Ng'onga Silupya

Biography

Ng’onga Silupya (b. 1996) is a cultural practitioner and curator based in Lusaka, Zambia, with over five years of experience in arts administration, project management, and curatorial practice within the visual arts sector. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies and English Language from the University of Zambia and a peer-led MA in Curatorial Practice from the University of Bergen, Norway.

Her research explores the role of cultural heritage in contemporary art, with a focus on how communities and institutions engage with histories, memories, and inherited knowledge systems. Her practice examines narratives, belief systems, ritual practices, and natural phenomena connected to diverse ethnic communities in Zambia and beyond, drawing on approaches from cultural studies, visual studies, and art history.

Silupya is involved in several research and community-based initiatives, including Imiti Ikula Empanga (“Growing Trees Are Tomorrow’s Forests”), a public art and performance project; Roots, a research initiative focused on documenting, archiving, and preserving cultural heritage sites and practices; and Waiting for a Savior, a virtual exhibition presented through Latitudes Online as part of the 2024 Latitudes Online Curatorial Lab. She was a Curator-in-Residence at Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen (2024), and a TheMuseumsLab 2025 Fellow in Berlin and Addis Ababa, with a residency at Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria. Her project Reclaiming Ritual Knowledge Through Performance: Perspectives from Africa and the Diaspora was selected for the 2026 TheMuseumsLab CollabFund project.

Ng'onga Silupya Curator, Cultural Practicioner and writer at The Zambia National Visual Arts Council, Lusaka, Zambia, has been awarded by the Getty Foundation (Los Angeles, USA).