Sahlah Davids

Sahlah Davids was born in 1998 in Cape Town.

Delving into the mediums of textiles and beadwork, mixed media artist Sahlah Davids, uses her heritage and strong affiliation to the realm of religious politics to sow the seeds of her creativity. Since completing her bachelor’s degree in Fine Art at the University of Cape Town in 2020, Sahlah has pursued the intricacies of religion and politics within the field of art and their relationship as one. Thereafter furthering the search for connection between these elements and the curation of pieces that embody it. Through this plight began the creation of the foundation that her work is built on today.

Davids has described her methods of creation as the product of the blended learning and trades of the Cape Muslim community specifically the elders within her family. It is within the domestic, traditional and religious spaces that Sahlah draws on the skills of her lineage, the history of their struggles and ultimately the embodiment of their spirituality.

Artist Statement:

My art journey with the interest in art practice as a method of enquiry. Socio-political issues within a South African context are deeply embedded in the everyday. This provided a lens though which I saw my maternal grandmother, a seamstress, highly skilled in her field and began sewing as a way to generate income for her family during the height of apartheid. Similarly, my paternal grandfather was a tailor who too followed this profession to aid his family due to the unjust educational system. This profession of tailors, seamstresses and artisans are shared professions within the Cape Muslim “Cape Malay” community. I began to question why. My practice presents an affiliation to the realm and intertwined nature of religion and politics within a South African context. I draw on skills of my heritage and lineage, the history of their struggles through the generations, and ultimately the embodiment of their spirituality.

This practice and profession as a quiet act of protest against inequality. I hope to stitch these questions, emotions and memories through the assemblage of my embellished pieces. The power of making and learning through adversity is what inspires me to create a visual archive that hopes to share this story.