Reshavan Naicker
Reshavan Naicker (b. 1999, Durban, South Africa) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Johannesburg. Working across photography, installation, and performance, Naicker's practice examines the infrastructures of memory and the processes through which personal and collective histories are constructed, legitimised, and transmitted across generations.

Central to this inquiry is an extensive collection of photographs, objects, and stories left by their family. And, in particular, the photographs made by their grandfather, who spent decades documenting everyday life within their South African Indian family in Durban between the 1960s and 1990s. Through the recomposition and annotation of photographs alongside objects, text, and installation, Naicker treats the archive as a living site of negotiation rather than a fixed record of the past. Their work considers the responsibilities of inheriting and caring for another person's memories, tracing how histories are continually shaped through acts of preservation, interpretation, and transmission.

Reshavan’s practice also considers historical erasure as both a deliberate act and a structural consequence of power. Their practie aims to serve as an intervention against erasure, acting as a method of reclaiming lost or suppressed narratives. By constructing alternative knowledge sources and deconstructing existing ones, their work challenges dominant historiographies and amplifies voices marginalised by colonial and institutional frameworks.

In addition to their studio practice, Reshavan is the Associate Director of Programs at STILL Artist Residency, where they support Artists-In-Residence, facilitate creative exchange, and contribute to institutional development through event planning and management, and public programming. Their administrative work aligns with their broader artistic interests in elevating African artists and artists from the Global South, advocating for more equitable narratives within contemporary art spaces.

They continue to develop projects that challenge dominant narratives, blending archival research, material exploration, and participatory engagement to reimagine how history is constructed and remembered.
Exhibitions

2026    A New Salon, Haus Vischer Weber, Basel, Switzerland

2022    Dovetail, Usdan Gallery, Bennington, VT, USA
              Progressions in Photography, W. Collective, Bennington, VT, USA

2021    Cityscapes, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece

2020    Bennington and Williams College Student Exhibition, Cynthia Reeves Gallery, North Adams, MA, USA


Education

2018 - 2022    Bachelors of Arts in Visual Arts, Art History, and Museum Studies
                           Bennington College, Bennington, VT, USA

2016 - 2018    International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
                          United World College of Costa Rica, Santa Ana, Costa Rica
©2025