Usha Seejarim shared with Mihaela Ion her passion for creating art using materials she finds sometimes at recycling centers, highlighting her commitment to sustainable art and the unique textures and stories these recycled objects bring to her work.
Usha’s perspective on wooden pegs as part of a female story highlights how everyday objects can carry deep personal and cultural significance, especially when connected to childhood memories. Her view suggests that pegs symbolize more than just household tools; they embody her experiences, identity, and perhaps her understanding of femininity situations during her early years. This perspective invites us to consider how ordinary items become meaningful symbols within individual and collective narratives, reflecting the unique ways in which women relate to their pasts and cultural environments.
This podcast explores the complex dynamics of artistic identity and success, emphasizing the vital role of curatorial and cultural relationships in shaping an artist’s career. It highlights how curators and cultural commentators serve as bridges between artists and audiences, fostering meaningful collaborations that enhance artistic expression and visibility. The discussion also delves into the ways specific insight can influence an artist’s development, helping them define and refine their unique voice within the art world.
Usha Seejarim will be presenting a topic at the AICA congress (University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, South Africa), highlighting her contributions to contemporary art and engaging in meaningful discussions within the art community of AICA Internation.
About the speaker: Usha Seejarim (b. South Africa) is a conceptual and socially engaged artist who uses found objects to communicate complex and simple ideas around the domestic position of women. Seejarim holds a master’s degree in fine art from the University of The Witwatersrand and is currently completing an MBA through Henley Business School. A Sculptor who has built an impressive record, Usha is best known for her reinterpretation of ordinary and domestic objects by making use of common materials such as safety pins, wooden pegs, irons and brooms. Seejarim has completed numerous public commissions: The Mundane and the Magical for the Radisson Red Hotel in Rosebank, a massive 40 ton steel sculpture, Resurrection of the Clothes Peg for Burning Man 2022, the public portrait for Nelson Mandela’s funeral in Qunu, South Africa in 2013; Figures Representing Articles From The Freedom Charter in 2008 in Soweto, South Africa; and an artwork for the facade of the South African Chancery in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2008, amongst others. Currently, she is working on Force, a public sculpture in response to emetic torture, and the death of Laye-Alama Condé in Bremen, Germany.
Seejarim was awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s Alumni Dignitas Award from The University of Johannesburg in 2021. She has presented over 14 solo exhibitions including Unfolding Servitude at Southern Guild in Cape Town (2025), Between the Kitchen at Konstanze Wolter, E.Artis Contemporary in Chemnitz, Germany (2024), Tethered Storyline at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda in 2022; Angel of the house at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town 2021; Keepers of the Common at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in Cape Town in 2018 and Vessel of the Fish at Kunstinstituut Melly Centre for Contemporary Arts in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2020.
Seejarim’s work forms part of public and private collections such as Iziko South African National Gallery (SANG); the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAFFCA), the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), The Constitutional Court Collection and the Fondazione Fiera Milan, Italy among others
About the moderator: Mihaela Ion holds a Ph.D. in History and is a curator, cultural manager, and art researcher based in Bucharest. Since 2021, she has been a member of AICA and has served as an International Board Member since 2022, as well as a member of the Digital Strategies Committee. Over the past 18 years, she has presented papers on Communist art, cultural wars, and contemporary artwork at leading conferences across Europe. Mihaela collaborates with several art galleries and museums throughout the continent. Her Ph.D. thesis focuses on the heritage of Communist-era artworks.
Mihaela has also worked as a cultural manager in London with body>data>space, and in Paris, Sélestat, Strasbourg, and Nancy during her Courants du Monde grant from the French Ministry of Culture. In 2010, she co-founded Atelierul Magazine, an active international online and offline platform that fosters intercultural dialogue between design creators and the public. Her recent cultural expertise in project evaluation was demonstrated through her work with Apexart in New York.
