South African painter David Nthubu Koloane is an artist who has exhibited his work internationally. Born in
Alexandria, Johannesburg, Koloane received his art training at the Bill Ainslie Studio from 1974 to 1977. In 1977,
he co-founded an art gallery in Johannesburg. During1982 and 1983 he was the Head of Fine Arts at the Federative
Union of Black Artists (FUBA); FUBA acts as an agency for Black artists, creating an awareness of their work in
South Africa and other foreign markets, while providing classes in music, singing, the plastic arts, and theater for
over 3,000 young people per month. Koloane has participated in the Thupelo workshops in Johannesburg and Triangle
Artists Workshop in New York. A recipient of a British Council Scholarship, Koloane was also awarded a diploma in
Museum Studies from the University of London in 1985. From 1986 to 1987 he was the curator of the FUBA Gallery. Most
recently, he curated the South African section in the exhibition Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa at the
Whitechapel Art Gallery in London as part of Africa 95 Festival of Arts.
Koloane's work has been shown in South Africa, Botswana, France, United States, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. He
has participated in many solo exhibitions as well as group shows. Koloane's work is included in museums and private
collections, among them, the National Museum and Art Gallery, Gaberone, Botswana, and BMW, Germany. A reflective and
well-published writer, Koloane has written on issues pertaining to Black South African art and the racism in the
South African art world. He has also been outspoken about the difficulty in obtaining an art education in South
Africa; particularly, he laments the lack of emphasis on art in Black schools and communities. Committed to the
visual art world, Koloane's moving and political art reflects a personal struggle to illuminate the experiences of
Black South Africans to the world.
NAVAJBAI RATAN TATA TRUST
