Biography

Jose Ferreira is Associate Professor of Art and Chair of the Sculpture and Expanded Practices area at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. Originally hailing from Maputo, Mozambique, Ferreira pursued his academic training in Fine Art at the Durban University of Technology in South Africa. Following a brief sojourn in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he returned to South Africa to co-found The Trinity Session, an innovative curatorial organization that facilitated collaborative projects with artists and institutional partners.

In 2001, Ferreira transitioned into academia full-time, initially joining the Cultural Studies Department at the University of East London, United Kingdom. Later that same year, he accepted an appointment as a Research Fellow in Fine Art Digital Media at the University of Sunderland, United Kingdom. His academic journey continued in the United States, where he served as a full-time faculty member in the Sculpture Department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 2006 to 2013. Subsequently, he held the role of Artistic Director of Sculpture at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center.

Ferreira's contributions to the global art community have been duly acknowledged through prestigious grants and awards. These accolades include a Fulbright US Scholar Award (2023-24); funding from The Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development in The Hague, Netherlands; The London Arts Council in the United Kingdom; The Human Science Research Council in South Africa; The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal; as well as the Grainger Grant from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Megan and Julia Chandler Merit Award in Durban, South Africa.

His artistic oeuvre has been showcased in a multitude of international venues, thereby solidifying his reputation as an artist. Notable exhibitions include those at The Hyde Park Art Centre in Chicago; The 8th Havana Biennale in Cuba; Andrea Meislin Gallery in New York City; The Market Theatre Galleries in Johannesburg; Centro Cultural Recoleta in Buenos Aires; The Good Citizen Gallery in St. Louis; the World Wide Video Festival in Amsterdam; OK Video Festival in Jakarta; Pulse Projects in Durban; and the Museum of Moving Image (MiMo) in Leiria, Portugal, among others.

Through his multifaceted career that spans curatorial practice, academic appointments, and international exhibitions, Jose Ferreira has contributed significantly to discourses on sculpture, expanded practices, and the intersection of art, technology, and cultural studies.