The up-and-coming Angolan visual artist will undertake a three-month residency in a dedicated studio at Africell’s Luanda head office, followed by a two month exhibition at Africell’s Galeria 10A
KinoYetu and Africell have named Sarhai da Costa as the first resident of Estação Experimental, having beaten off almost forty other high-quality applicants to win the coveted inaugural spot in Angola’s most exciting artist residency programme.
Sarhai da Costa is an Angolan multidisciplinary visual artist whose practice moves between muralism, painting, collage, installation and performance. Based in Luanda, her work explores gender, ancestry, decoloniality, social inequality, and the lived experiences of women and children in Angola. Through her practice, she critically examines structures of power, historical memory and the ongoing consequences of colonialism and other systems of domination.
A graduate of the Instituto Superior de Artes (ISART), Sarhai was a member of the artistic collective Verkron from 2012–2018. She has since participated in major exhibitions and artistic programmes including the Bienal de Luanda, exhibitions at Galeria Movart and Instituto Camões, and residencies including ResiliArt and a UNESCO-funded residency at the Palácio de Ferro. Her socially engaged practice includes collaborative mural projects with UNICEF and MASFAMU, as well as work with Ondjango Feminista. In 2025, she participated in Atelier Kinaxixi’s 50 Years of Independence project and presented the performance Corpo Cativo, Corpo Coletivo.
Sarhai’s selection for the Estação Experimental Residency reflects the programme’s commitment to supporting artistic practices that contribute meaningfully to reflection on Angolan culture and society. Her multidisciplinary and socially engaged approach offers a distinctive perspective on questions of identity, memory, gender and social transformation.
Sarhai da Costa’s three month residency will be followed by a two-month exhibition at Galeria 10A, the Africell Impact Foundation’s dedicated gallery space in Angola.
Artist statement
“I am Sarhai, an Angolan visual artist who uses art as a tool for denunciation, memory, resistance, and social transformation. My practice moves between muralism, acrylic painting, collage, installation, and performance—languages through which I investigate the marks left by oppression, inequality, and the structures of power that shape the lives of women, children, and marginalized communities in Angola.”
More information on the story behind Estação Experimental and its selection process can be found here.