photocredit: Tommy Smits
Shana de Villiers (b. 2000, St. Maarten) (they/them) is a South African artist based in The Hague, the Netherlands. Their practice drifts between the performative, visual, and literary, engaging with readings of the monstrous. Magical, colourful characters and fragmented stories that mirror societal fears and (post)colonial complications are characteristic of their work. With a collage-like working method, they patch together craft, theory and internet-age mythologies into sculptures, wearable works, texts, and immersive theatrical installations.
shanavilliers@gmail.com
@shanadevilliers
Member of the Billytown artist initiative.
UPCOMING
2026 Group Exhibition “So far, so good”, 38CC, Delft (NL)
2026 Solo Exhibition “I am Frankie, and you still love me”, Baerum Kunsthall, Fornebu, (NO)
2026 PADA Studios Residency, Barreiro, (PT)
EDUCATION
2019-2023 BA in Fine Art. The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, (NL)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 “I want to Be Glue!”, TUR, Riga, (LATV)
2025 “I am Frankie, and you still love me”, Das Leben am Haverkamp, The Hague, (NL)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 “Reaching for the Other”, The Factory, Djupavik (IS)
2025 “When Continents Collide” Murf/Murw Festival, NS16, Tilburg, (NL)
2024 “Overture”, Trixie, The Hague, (NL)
2024 “NIGHTSHIFT”, Heden Gallery, The Hague, (NL)
2024 “Geobacter,” Quartair, The Hague, (NL)
2023 “In Medias Res: Dinner Conversations”, Omstand, Arnhem, (NL)
2023 Royal Academy of Art The Hague Graduation Show, The Hague, (NL)
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
2026 Supermarket Independent Art Fair, Stockholm (SE)
2025 The General Meeting, Art Rotterdam, (NL)
2022 An Evening with the Shadow (a performative dinner and group show) Organised and curated by Shana de Villiers, Gabriel Kolesar, and Silke Riis. Barth Kapel, The Hague, (NL)
GRANTS
2026 Mondriaan Artist Start Grant
2025 Stroom Pro Invest
2023 MC de Visser Fonds (Grant for Graduation Project)
2022 Tesselschade Stichting (Scholarship)
2022 Stichting Schuurman Schimmel Van Outeren (Scholarship)
RESIDENCY
2026 TUR, Riga (LATV)
2025 ‘Where the Patchlings Live: between a costume and a book’, Page Not Found, The Hague, (NL)
2024 De Nijverheid x Amarte Fund Duo Residency, Utrecht, (NL)
SYMPOSIUM
2022 Impossible Stories Symposium: ‘linking colonial collections and climate change through critical fabulation’ in partnership with Maastricht University at Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, (NL)
WORK IN COLLECTION
2023 The SIN Mask, Ine Gevers Private Collection
2026 Group Exhibition “So far, so good”, 38CC, Delft (NL)
2026 Solo Exhibition “I am Frankie, and you still love me”, Baerum Kunsthall, Fornebu, (NO)
2026 PADA Studios Residency, Barreiro, (PT)
EDUCATION
2019-2023 BA in Fine Art. The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, (NL)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 “I want to Be Glue!”, TUR, Riga, (LATV)
2025 “I am Frankie, and you still love me”, Das Leben am Haverkamp, The Hague, (NL)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 “Reaching for the Other”, The Factory, Djupavik (IS)
2025 “When Continents Collide” Murf/Murw Festival, NS16, Tilburg, (NL)
2024 “Overture”, Trixie, The Hague, (NL)
2024 “NIGHTSHIFT”, Heden Gallery, The Hague, (NL)
2024 “Geobacter,” Quartair, The Hague, (NL)
2023 “In Medias Res: Dinner Conversations”, Omstand, Arnhem, (NL)
2023 Royal Academy of Art The Hague Graduation Show, The Hague, (NL)
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
2026 Supermarket Independent Art Fair, Stockholm (SE)
2025 The General Meeting, Art Rotterdam, (NL)
2022 An Evening with the Shadow (a performative dinner and group show) Organised and curated by Shana de Villiers, Gabriel Kolesar, and Silke Riis. Barth Kapel, The Hague, (NL)
GRANTS
2026 Mondriaan Artist Start Grant
2025 Stroom Pro Invest
2023 MC de Visser Fonds (Grant for Graduation Project)
2022 Tesselschade Stichting (Scholarship)
2022 Stichting Schuurman Schimmel Van Outeren (Scholarship)
RESIDENCY
2026 TUR, Riga (LATV)
2025 ‘Where the Patchlings Live: between a costume and a book’, Page Not Found, The Hague, (NL)
2024 De Nijverheid x Amarte Fund Duo Residency, Utrecht, (NL)
SYMPOSIUM
2022 Impossible Stories Symposium: ‘linking colonial collections and climate change through critical fabulation’ in partnership with Maastricht University at Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, (NL)
WORK IN COLLECTION
2023 The SIN Mask, Ine Gevers Private Collection