Colin Richards currently lectures art criticism, studio practice and art theory in the Division of Visual Arts in the Wits School of Arts, Wits University where he is Professor. He was educated at the University of South Africa, the University of London (Goldsmiths’ College) and Wits University, where he was awarded his PhD in 1995. Richards has curated a number of major exhibitions, including ‘Taking Liberties: The Body Politic’ for the Africus Johannesburg Biennale (1995), ‘Siyawela: Love, Loss and Liberation in South African Art’ (Birmingham City Museums) for africa ‘95 held in the United Kingdom, and ‘Graft’ for the 2nd Johannesburg Biennial (Johannesburg and Cape Town, 1997). He has also published widely on contemporary South African art, including the journals Third Text , Nka, African Arts and Art South Africa. His most recent major text is a book-length monograph on the artist Sandile Zulu published by David Krut Publishing in Johannesburg. He is currently completing a second book on artist Durant Sihlali (1939-2004). A major essay is to appear in Modernity and Contemporaneity: Antinomies of Art and Culture after the 20th Century, edited by Terrence Smith, Okwui Enwezor and Nancy Conde (Duke; forthcoming). Richards was an African delegate for ‘Study Tour Program 2001 for Art-Related Professionals from Africa’ in Japan in 2001. This involved visits to art institutions in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Hara, Kyoto, Hiroshima as well as conferences (Art, Museums, Biennials: Some Questions from Africa) in Tokyo and Osaka. He is currently participating in the Clark / Mellon Art History and Contemporary African Art project (The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts) and has presented conference papers on contemporary South African art locally and in countries abroad, including in Botswana, Nigeria, India, Australia, the United States, England, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland Sweden and Japan. Richards is a practising artist, having exhibited in South Africa, Europe and North America. His works are represented in the major public collections in the country. Recent work has been included in a major 10 years of Democracy exhibition (2004) and two exhibitions relating to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1998, 2006), all held at Iziko, the South African National Gallery in Cape Town. His is currently working for a solo show in Johannesburg in November 2008.