Dr. Phokeng Setai (b.1992) is a curator and writer whose work moves fluidly between artistic inquiry, academic research, and cultural practice. With a sharp eye for emerging modes of cultural production, Setai’s curatorial projects often explore inventive formats and unexpected collaborations that rethink the role of art in society. In early 2024, he completed a PhD in Anthropology at the University of the Western Cape, where he was based at the Centre for Humanities Research. His doctoral research focused on contemporary African curatorial strategies and pedagogies, positioning him at the intersection of scholarship and practice.
Setai is an alumnus of several globally respected platforms—including Raw Material Company in Dakar, Independent Curators International in New York, Fundación Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Madrid, and G.A.S. Lagos—through which he has cultivated a distinctly international sensibility. He is also the co-founder of Exhibition Match, an artistic initiative that draws from the culture of football to create new publics for art. The project is part social intervention, part curatorial experiment—evidence of Setai’s belief that creativity thrives where disciplines collide. In 2024, he joined Zeitz MOCAA as Assistant Curator, where he brings his cross-disciplinary approach to one of the continent’s most ambitious platforms for contemporary art. Setai’s writing has appeared in The Thinker (University of Johannesburg), The Sole Adventurer, and ArThrob. His interests span curatorial practice; the intersections of contemporary art, urbanism, and architecture; experimental music and sound ecologies; design; and the evolving infrastructures of cultural life on the continent.
