Zandile (Zandi) Makroti is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and production designer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her practice moves fluidly across film photography, fine art materials, textiles, and costume design, creating works that exist at the intersection of visual storytelling, spatial narrative, and material exploration. Through these mediums, she investigates themes of feminism, ancestral memory, inner resilience, and the psychological landscapes of women.
At the core of Zandi’s practice is an exploration of the emotional and internal worlds that shape human behaviour. Her work often focuses on the lived experiences of women, examining vulnerability, strength, identity, and transformation through a deeply intuitive and empathetic lens. By weaving together visual symbolism, texture, and narrative, she constructs works that invite reflection on the complexities of womanhood and the inherited memories carried through generations.
Her projects frequently engage with fabric, costume, and tactile materials as vessels of meaning. Textiles in her work become more than aesthetic choices; they act as carriers of memory, culture, and embodied experience. Through layered compositions and carefully considered material choices, Zandi creates environments and visual scenes that echo both personal and collective histories. This approach allows her to bridge the physical and psychological, creating spaces where viewers can connect with themes of identity, spirituality, and emotional depth.
As a qualified production designer with a background in film production, Zandi brings a
cinematic sensibility to her artistic and curatorial work. Film remains a strong influence across her practice, shaping the way she constructs narratives, frames visual moments, and thinks about atmosphere and storytelling. Each project unfolds as a carefully layered narrative, where composition, lighting, costume, and spatial arrangement work together to build immersive visual worlds.
Her training as a certified UX researcher further informs her approach to creative practice and exhibition-making. This perspective allows her to consider not only the conceptual strength of a work but also the audience’s experience of it. In both her art and curatorial projects, Zandi thoughtfully considers how viewers move through a
space, how they encounter and interpret artworks, and how emotional and intellectual responses are shaped through design.
Through her curatorial work, she is particularly interested in creating thoughtful exhibition environments that highlight materiality, storytelling, and the power of feminine expression. She often explores how textiles, fabric-based mediums, and sculptural materials can carry narratives of resistance, memory, and cultural identity.
Ultimately, Zandi’s work exists as a dialogue between memory, materiality, and identity. By combining filmic storytelling, tactile materials, and spatial thinking, she creates layered artistic experiences that invite audiences to slow down, reflect, and engage with the emotional and psychological complexities of the human condition.