Naadira Patel - softwork studio

Naadira Patel is a South African artist and the director of softwork studio, a design and curatorial practice working across the fields of art, architecture and feminist and queer organising work. She is a member of Imperfect Futures (IF), an interdisciplinary collective working at the intersection of social and artistic practice, design, architecture and film. In her research she explores digital imaging technologies to critically think about how they have come to shape perception. In doing this critique, collaborative practice, collective working, and solidarity are vital in looking for new forms of social and political communities.
softwork’s recent collaborations include working with the design and curatorial team of the 18th Biennale Architettura 2023 and the South African Pavilion for the Biennale Arte 2024.; the African Futures Institute; Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA); WOLFF Architects; the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) and Frame45; Zietz MOCAA; Johannesburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF); African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF); Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI); Black Beyond Data; Association for Women in Development (AWID).
Naadira holds a research Master in Cultural Analysis from the University of Amsterdam, has lectured at the Wits School of Arts, and the Graduate School of Architecture in Johannesburg, has co-edited a special issue of […] Ellipses Journal for Creative Research titled “Johannesburg Lasts", and is the co-host of the research anthology and podcast, Are We Our Work.