Malaika Temba is a Tanzanian and American visual artist based in New York. Temba creates textile works that honor the lineage of the diaspora’s aunties and femmes, addressing the responsibility, time, attention and patience expected of these laborers, comforters, nurturers, and providers. She wields fabric, an oft-overlooked material conflated with gendered notions of softness, as a resilient and unbreakable format to confront labor standards and global trade. Having grown up across Saudi Arabia, Uganda, South Africa, Morocco, and the United States, her lens and creative processes embrace globalization and intercultural connection by shining light on all of its intricacies.
Temba graduated with a B.F.A. in textiles from RISD in 2018. In 2021, she was honored as the recipient of the YoungArts Jorge M. Pérez Award and since then, she has been selected for residencies including Art Omi (2023), MASS MoCA (2023), Bandung Residency, MoCADA + A4 Arts Alliance (2023), Silver Art Projects (2024), and the Textile Art Center (2024-25). Temba has had solo exhibitions with Mindy Solomon Gallery (2021 and 2024), Lilia Ben Salah Gallery (2023), and Gaa Gallery (2025).
