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Ezekiel Phalana
FNB Art Joburg is proud to announce Thato Toeba as the winner of the prestigious 2025 FNB Art Prize, awarded annually to an artist whose work demonstrates innovation, critical engagement, and excellence in contemporary art.
Selected from a shortlist in some of the most compelling voices in African art today, Toeba’s multidisciplinary practice — spanning collage, installation, sound, and moving image captivated the jury with its bold exploration of identity, power, and cultural memory. Drawing on lived experiences across Maseru, Cape Town, and Amsterdam, their work reflects a distinctive visual language that reconfigures archives and religious iconography into layered, intimate meditations on blackness, queerness, and belonging.
The FNB Art Prize jury praised Toeba’s ability to “push the boundaries form while maintaining deep conceptual clarity,” describing their installation at this year’s fair as “hauntingly poetic and politically sharp.”
As part of the award, Toeba will receive a solo presentation at the 2025 edition of FNB Art Joburg, along with a cash prize and an opportunity for international residency support through FNB and its partners.
“This recognition affirms the urgency and complexity of the work I’ve been doing,” said Toeba. “I see this not as a culmination but a continuation an invitation to dig deeper, dream wider, and remain uncompromising on how we imagine future from the margins.”
The FNB Art Prize in its 14th year, has spotlighted and supported artists such as Peju Alatise, Nolan Oswald Dennis, and Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude, furthering its legacy as one of Africa’s most respected contemporary art accolades.