“This Gave Me Goosebumps”: Mary Sibande’s Sculpture of Domestic Worker Sophie Goes Viral
- Videos celebrating local artist Mary Sibande’s powerful art, which honours Black women and challenges Western depictions, went viral online
- The captivating clips, shared on the video streaming platform TikTok, attracted massive views and comments from a deeply touched online community
- Social media users resonated profoundly with the art, praising Sibande’s unique vision and expressing eagerness to see the exhibitions
Source: Instagram
Two captivating posts featuring the powerful masterpieces of local artist Mary Sibande took social media platforms by storm.
The clips, shared by TikTok users @jessfza and @lesole.za, garnered immense attention and a wave of profound emotional responses.
Mary Sibande’s art boldly reclaims historical narratives, using clothing as a powerful language to tell stories of South African women. Her work challenges Western colonial representation of their lives, drawing heavily from fashion design to tailor narratives onto characters' garments with colour, symbolism, and concealed symbols.
Mary Sibande's art shines at FNB Jo'burg Art Fair
Mary's expansive installation and striking photography take viewers into worlds inhabited by her alter ego, Sophie, who embodies the experiences of her family members during apartheid. The figures showcased in the two TikTok videos celebrate Black womanhood and pay homage to the tireless domestic workers.
TikTok user @lesole.za's video featured a rotating sculpture of Sophie in her domestic worker’s uniform and ballerina shoes. Sophie and some of Mary's works are currently on display at Everard Read Johannesburg, as part of the FNB Jo’burg Art Fair.
Source: Instagram
Mzansi loves the art masterpieces
The clips deeply touched many social media users, who resonated with the themes and visuals represented. Many immediately recognised the art as Mary Sibande's, even at first glance, describing her work as both raw and unique.
Some expressed keen interest in knowing the exhibition locations, promising to make an effort to see the masterpieces in person. Others mentioned that it was their first time encountering Mary Sibande’s work or even hearing of her, and vowed to seek out more of her creations.
User @Maggie said:
"Honestly, for a split second there, I thought this was a live person in cosplay. This is beautiful."
User @YT: Lolly Sakwe added:
"I immediately knew this is Mary Sibande🥰! This is beautiful 😍."
User @MimiVintage615 commented:
"This piece saddens me, yet it resonates in the deepest ways. It reminds me how joy can bloom even in the harshest conditions—how freedom can be felt, if only for a moment, in a life shadowed by oppression. It reflects dreams deferred, and the greatness ignored or diminished by bias and racism. No matter how much 'we' accomplish, we are still too often forced into a mould not made for us. Still, I feel pride looking at this strong piece that somehow still feels delicate. I feel great pride that my ancestors bore this weight and still found ways to create, to resist, to live to dream. They ran, so that I can walk, and every step I take carries the greatness they passed down 🥹💕."
User @Mrs. Acosta added:
"She could’ve been a ballerina. She was a fairy. So many ballerinas who never got to dance. We dance now."
User @ZamaNisi Mthembu said:
"I always think about Mary Sibande. Especially looking at my current situation. When I was studying about her at Wits, I never thought I would relate in real time to her work."
User @MicrocosmSunMonster shared:
"This gave me goosebumps. 😭 She’s beautiful."
Watch the TikTok videos :
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Source: Briefly News
