About

Sunanda Mesquita (they/them/hers) born 1985, is a Vienna based, Goan-Swiss transdisciplinary visual artist, curator and Ayurvedic Wellness practitioner. Mesquita studied Education of the Arts and in the class of Dorit Margreiter Choy at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and is a co-curator and co-editor of Anti-Colonial Fantasies/Decolonial Strategies with Imayna Caceres and Sophie Utikal.

Their artistic practice focuses on the possibilities of a radical, utopian, queer, feminist collectivity of BIPoCs and topics of community, solidarity and belonging. They support individual and collective journeys to wellbeing by offering Ayurvedic bodywork and holistic knowledge centering decolonial joy within the diaspora. (@decolonial_joy)

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In 2013, Sunanda Mesquita and Amoako Boafo saw the necessity to search for a community for and by Black, Indigenous and People of Color artists, a space to connect, to network, to discuss strategies, and empower each other. WE DEY– platform for contemporary arts — was found and awarded with the kültüř gemma! scholarship of the city Vienna in 2014.

From 2017-2022 Sunanda and Jaqueline Ejiji found a home for WE DEY x SPACE at Kandlgasse 24 in the 7th district as a self – organised art space in Vienna dedicated to amplify the art and culture production of Queer/Trans*/Inter/Black People/People of Color. WE DEY x space hosted over 70 activations such as solo and group exhibitions, residencies, workshops, kitchen table talks and film screenings around the topics of decolonial art production, community, self-care and empowerment.

Their transdisciplinary practice includes painting, drawing and video works as well as embodying the role as Dramaturgay in film, theatre and dance productions et al. Stefanie Sourial, Nina Sandino, Hannah Ma, Faris Cuchi Gezahegn, Mzamo Nondlwana, Hyo Lee, Patu, Janine Jembere, Claire Lefèvre, Daniela Hernandez Flores and Andrea Vezga Acevedo.

EDUCATION

2020 – 2023 Āyurvedic Wellness Practioner, Gloriet Ayurveda Vienna
2014 – 2021 Diploma studies in Video & Videoinstallation, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
2012 – 2018 Education of the Arts, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
2006 – 2008 Make up Artist | Hairstylist Diploma, Vienna | London
2004 – 2006 Diploma in Fashion Design, Herbstrasse, Vienna

DRAMATURG(A)Y

2024: TURNING POINT | Mzamo Nondlwana: Brut Wien
2024: LOIE (is a fire that cannot be extinguished) | Claire Lefèvre: Brut Wien
2023: ELSEWHERE | Nina Sandino, Ragnheiður Erla Björnsdóttir, Daniela Hernandez Flores and Andrea Vezga Acevedo. HUGGY BEARS days 2023: WUK performing arts, Vienna
2023: INVASION(EN) 2.23 | Hannah Ma Dance: Jomba! Contemporary Dance Experience, Durban ZA
2023: UNITED NETWORKS “UN Lab” | hannahma dance: Wawern
2023: NEW ENDINGS | Stefanie Sourial, Faris Cuchi Gezahegn, Hyo Lee, Patu, Janine Jembere: Brut Wien
2022: INVASION(EN) 2.22 | Hannah Ma, Nora Amin, Sebastian M.Purfürst: Trier
2022: Dance for the Future | Mzamo Nondlwana, Bassano Bonelli, İklim Doğan: Brut Wien
2022: City of Diaspora |Stefanie Sourial, Faris Cuchi Gezahegn, Hyo Lee: Brut Wien
2021: Fleshbacks | Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński

CURATORIAL PRACTICE

2013 – 2022: WE DEY x SPACE | Co-founder, curator art & healing space for QTIBPoC contemporary arts
2018: Rememory: Ritual Blackness and Beyond | curator solo show, Khaleb Brooks: WE DEY x SPACE
2017: Fragmented Selves | curator solo show, Sophie Utikal: WE DEY x SPACE
2017: Detoxing Masculinity | curator solo show, Amoako Boafo: WE DEY x SPACE
2016: Anticolonial Fantasies | co-curator group show: Friday Exit, Vienna
2016: WE DEY show | curator group show, WUK Projektraum: Vienna
2013: It’s now, it’s there, it’s everywhere | curator solo show, Amoako Boafo, Vienna
2013: 1:54- Contemporary African Art Fair | Curatorial Assistant, London

EXHIBITIONS (selection)

2022-23: Einstweilen wird es Mittag | Homestories: WHW, Kunsthalle Wien
2019: Dark Energy feminist organising, working collectively | group show: XHIBIT, Vienna
2018: CLINCH Festival | solo show: Kulturzentrum Pavillon, Hannover
2017: Decolonial Borderlands | group show: Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
2016: Anti*colonial Fantasies | group shop: Friday Exit, Vienna
2016: WE DEY show | group show: WUK Projektraum, Vienna
2015: Familaritiy – unexpected queerings | group show: VBKÖ, Vienna
2013: Chalewote | Streetartfestival Accra, Ghana

COMMISSIONS (selection)

2023: Respire | Colorgrading, Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński: Liverpool Biennale
2021: Fleshbacks | Director of Photography | Dramaturgy | Edit | CC, Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński
2020 – 22: City of Diaspora | Development | Video and Stage design, Stefanie Sourial, Faris Cuchi Gezagehn, Hyo Lee: BRUT Wien
2018: My garden flourishes with flowers | Video, Mzamo Nondlwana: Tanzquartier Wien
2018: The Letter | Director of Photography | Edit | CC, Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński
2017: Unearthing. In Conversation | Director of Photography | Edit | CC, Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński
2017: STA! | Director of Photography, Pêdra Costa
since 2016: Illustrations for: Homestories, GLADT, CLINCH Festival, Center of Intersectional Justice Berlin, DEMASK, Radio Orange, Augustin – die erste österreichische Boulevardzeitung, Labor 89. Intersektionale Bewegungsgeschichte*n aus West und Ost

ARTIST TALKS.PANELS.LECTURES. (selection)

2023: Living in the Storm / Embodying the Storm | Panel, Faris Cuchi Gezahegn (Afro Rainbow Austria), Araba Evelyn Johnston-Arthur (Pamoja), KitchenSProsper (Tanyaradzwa Moyo & Paloma Lukumbi), Soñ Gweha (Atayé): Kunstraum Niederösterreich
2023: Queere Künstler_innen of Color. Verhandlungen von Disidentifikation, Überleben und Un-Archiving im deutschen Kontext | Buchvorstellung und Gesprächsrunde, Rena Onat und Natis: Xartsplitta, Berlin
2023: Toolbox #2 – Fragilität als Verfassungszustand | Gesprächsreihe, Golschan Ahmad Haschemi & Verena Meyer: Theaterformen Festival, Hannover
2022: Desintegrationskurs: Gegen anti-asiatischen Rassismus | Online-Vernetzungs-Workshop, Vina Yun und Claudia Unterweger: Depot Wien
2021: QTBIPOC art, activism and strategies for safety during COVID-19. | Guest Lecture, Mengzhu Fu and Prof. Jin Haritaworn for the New Social Movements, Activism and Social Change (Master of Environmental Studies): Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Tkaronto, Canada 2021: H andle with care – City of Diaspora | Artist Talk, Stefanie Sourial, Faris Gezagehn, Hyo Lee, Sushila Mesquita and Janine Jembere: BRUT Wien
2018: Decolonize Arts | Panel: CLINCH Festival, Hannover
2016- 2018: Anti*colonial Fantasies | Lectures, Sophie Utikal, Imayna Caceres, Verena Melgerejo Weinandt: Friday Exit, Kunstuniversität Linz, University of Vienna, Universitätsbibliothek Akademie der Bildenden Künste
2017: Fm4 auf Laut | Radio Interview about BPoC Students and Lectures collective with Jaqueline Ejiji
2017: Homestories | Artist Talk: Literaturhaus, Vienna
2017: I/mages of Tomorrow | Artist Talk: Goldsmith University, London
2017: Decolonial Borderlands | Lecture, Sophie Utikal and Imayna Caceres: Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna
2016: Library of Requests Part II | Artist Talk, Belinda Kazeem Kaminski, Imayna Caceres, Sophie Utikal: Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna
2016: Decolonising Arts and Visual Culture Series | Panel, Rena Onat, RajuRage, Rajkamal Kahlon, Nathalie Mba Bikoro: Xartsplitta, Berlin

WORKSHOPS (selection)

2023: Care Intermissions / Care Protocols | workshop for BIPoC artists and cultural workers, KitchenSProsper, A quiet storm blowin´: Kunstraum Niederösterreich, Wien
2023: A Touch of Tenderness | Workshop, FupaMagic: Feministisches Referat Öh Uni Wien
2022: Decolonial Joy | workshop: Rhubaba Gallery and Studios, Edinburgh, UK
2022: Tapping into Decolonial Joy | Workshop: BIPoC summit, The BIPoC circle + Wir Sind Auch Wien, Frauenreferat Wien
2019-20: Artistic Strategies of Resistance | facilitation and co-facilitation, Workshop Series, Rafaela Siegenthaler, Faris Gezahegn, Shenja Vasanti Kumari Danz: Universität Wien, Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien, Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln, Kunsthalle Wien
2020: Kunst als Werkzeug gegen Rassismus | Workshop: Dokustelle Österreich
2019: Rewriting – The Calling Card Project Workshop | Rafaela Siegenthaler: HochschülerInnenschaft an der Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien (hufak)
2019: BPoC Coalition Building | Workshop, Sushila Mesquita: Frauen_Referat der ÖH Uni Wien, WE DEY x SPACE
2018: WE DEY x SPACE – self-organisation of art and community spaces | Workshop with Jaqueline Ejiji: Diversity Arts Culture – Summer School for BPoC artists, Berlin
2018: Unarchiving/Archiving in the Context of Collective Forms of Resistance | Workshop, Raju Rage: New Perspectives on memory(ies), xartsplitta,
2017: I/mages of Tomorrow | Workshop, Decolonising Illustration: Goldsmith University, London
2014: Re-writing the Calling Card Project | Workshop series, Rafaela Siegenthaler: University of Vienna, University of Applied Arts, Vienna
2014: Decolonial Pedagogy | Seminar, Rafaela Siegenthaler: Bundesfachtagung 2014 Globales Lernen, Vienna

FILM FESTIVALS

Diagonale 2018, International Filmfestival Rotterdam, ORF III, Kassel Filmfest, Venice Biennale, Edinburgh- International Film Festival, Dortmund / Köln – Internationales Frauenfilmfestival, Osnabrück – EMAF – European Media Art Festival, Wiesbaden – exground on screen, London PFF, OUTsider Fest, An*ormal Festival, Vancouver – Int. Film Festival

PUBLICATIONS

2023: Queere Künstler_innen of Color, Verhandlungen von Disidentifikation, Überleben und Un-Archiving im deutschen Kontext, Rena Onat
2021: Untie to Tie. Colonial Fragments in School Contexts, Aïcha Diallo, Annika Niemann, Miriam Shabafrouz
2019: Labor 89. Intersektionale Bewegungsgeschichte*n aus West und Ost, Peggy Piesche, Nicola Lauré al-Samarai
2018: Stille Macht. Silence und Dekolonisierung, Emily Ngubia Kessé
2017: Kuratieren als antirassistische Praxis/Curating as anti-racist practice, Natalie Bayer, Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński, Nora Sternfeld
2017: Anti*colonial Fantasies, Imayna Caceres, Sophie Utikal, Sunanda Mesquita
2017: Black Fly Zine, Sexual Health for People of Color
2016: On Families, a coloring book tracing concepts of families

PRESS

2022: FM4
2021: Marvellousgrounds
2020: Culture Lime
2019: Anticolonial Fantasies
2018: The Glam Femme
2018: Bildpunkt IG Bildende Kunst