Themba Given Msiza was born in 1986 in Pretoria, South Africa. Although he enrolled to study Fine Art at the University of South Africa, Msiza was forced to abandon his studies due to financial concerns. It was in 2013, however that he was accepted onto the Pretoria Art Museum’s preparatory programme to receive formal training to work as a museum guide. Such led to a career-defining exhibition, Asia (As So Is Africa) at Pretoria Art Museum in 2019.
Msiza explores themes of immigration, inequality, hard labour, and xenophobia that so often plague the South African consciousness. He draws inspiration from the world he experiences around him, reflecting in his works the perpetual growth of regrets, nostalgia, grief and joy that he witnesses in the lives of his compatriots.
