Miliswa Ndziba
architect-scenographer
miliswakalindelwa.com
ABOUT
Forts of Sand was incubated at the University of Johannesburg (Graduate School of Architecture) and the VIAD Bio Art Creative Microbiology Co‑Lab. Between 2022 and 2024, it was exhibited in the Situated Making, SYM|BIO|ART, and Imminent and Eminent Ecologies exhibitions at FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg. The work in the Imminent and Eminent Ecologies exhibition was featured in the twenty‑fifth issue of ARTAFRICA Magazine.
PUBLICATIONS
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY (UJ IR) 
Forts of Sand: A Reimagining of Black Childhood through Critical Fabulation.[Master’s Thesis]
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: NOVEMBER 2021
SELECTED WORKS
Forts of Sand: A Reimagining of Black Childhood through Critical Fabulation(2021)
Master’s Thesis,University of Johannesburg


Forts of Sand: A Reimagining of Black Childhood through Critical Fabulation (2021)  is a study that makes use of sand-play and “critical fabulation”(Hartman, 2008) as narrative devices to make sense of the spatial condition created by the 1794  São José shipwreck on the ocean floor off the coast of Clifton 4th Beach in Cape Town, and proposes a passage along the coast of the African continent from the site of the shipwreck to the Island of Mozambique that bridges the journey home for the drowned enslaved children to their final resting place.
Forts of Sand: A Reimagining of the Aesthetics of Demolition through World-building(2022)
Situated Making Exhibition,FADA Gallery,University of Johannesburg


 Forts of Sand: A Reimagining of the Aesthetics of Demolition (2022) through World-building models the colonisation of the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte  on the Island of Mozambique by the  drowned enslaved children who have been reborn as algae .
Ocean in a Box: A Reimagining of the Aesthetics of Demolition through Analogue Modelling (2023)
SYM|BIO ART Exhibition,FADA Gallery,University of Johannesburg


 The second iteration of Forts of Sand: A Reimagining of the Aesthetics of Demolition through World-building (2022) maps the trace of the artist at the intimate ritual scale of analogue modelling through the projection of the colonisation of the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte on the Island of Mozambique.
Forts of Sand; Passage; Strange Fruit(2023)
 Imminent and Eminent Ecologies Exhibition,FADA Gallery,University of Johannesburg


 Forts of Sand; Passage; Strange Fruit is an immersive retelling of the creation myth so far.
FEATURES
MAGAZINE_INTERVIEW
Forts of Sand; Passage; Strange Fruit. JAMAL,A.,2024. ART AFRICA OCTOBER/DECEMBER DIGITAL EDITION ISSUE 25,pp.268-269.[online]
RESEARCH UNIT PUBLICATION_FEATURE
Forts of Sand: A Reimagining of Black Childhood through Critical Fabulation. SINDI,T., 2021. oNform PUBLICATION 2021: T-02,pp.31–43.[online]
AWARDS & PRIZES
PRINCE CLAUS SEED AWARD 2024
KINGSFORDWEG 151, AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS: SEPTEMBER 2024
COROBRIK REGIONAL ARCHITECTURAL STUDENT AWARD
University of Johannesburg 1st Runner Up.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: NOVEMBER 2021
EXAMINER’S CHOICE AWARD 
Selected by Professor Mitchell Squire.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: NOVEMBER 2021
DISTINCTION AWARD
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: NOVEMBER 2021
CONFERENCES
PRESENTATION: Architectural Humanities Research Association(AHRA) CONFERENCE
“Forts of Sand: Reimagining of the Aesthetics of Demolition through Worldbuilding”.[Video Conference]
61 ST JAMES PL, BROOKLYN , NY 11238, USA: NOVEMBER 2022
INVITED LECTURES 
SCHOOL LECTURE: DIE HOCHSCHULE FÜR BILDENDE KÜNSTE BRAUNSCHWEIG
Presenter: Navigating the Archive: Building Immersive Worlds for Communal Remembering.[Video Conference]
JOHANNES-SELENKA-PLATZ 1, 38118 BRAUNSCHWEIG-WESTLICHES RINGGEBIET, GERMANY: JANUARY 2026
PRESENTATION: GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
Presenter: Ways of Approaching Site.
JBS, BUNTING ROAD, AUCKLAND PARK, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: JULY 2023
PRESENTATION: SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND
Presenter: Ways of Approaching Site.
JOHN MOFFAT BLDG, JAN SMUTS AVENUE, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: FEBRUARY 2023
PANELS & GATHERINGS
TRACES WE LEAVE UPON THE EARTH
Assembled by Bev Butkow Candice Allison with a keynote address by Zayaan Khan.
ORIGINS CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND, YALE ROAD & 1 ENOCH SONTOGA AVENUE, BRAAMFONTEIN, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: SEPTEMBER 2023
SYM|BIO|ART
Moderated by Dineo Diphofa.
FADA GALLERY, UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG, BUNTING ROAD, AUCKLAND PARK, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: 12 AUGUST 2023