Breyten Breytenbach was born in 1939 in Bonnievale, South Africa, and lives and
works in Paris.
He studied at Michaelis School of Fine Arts in 1958, receiving honorary doctorate
in letters from the University of Western Cape in 1988, the University of KwaZulu-
Natal in 1994, and Ghent University in 2014. Breytenbach was also a visiting
professor at the University of Natal in 1995, Princeton University in 1996, and
the University of Cape Town in 2000. Awards and accolades include the Zbigniew
Herbert International Literary Award (2017); the Prix Max Jacob (2010); the
Mahmoud Darwish Award for Creativity (2010); the Hertzog Prize (1999; 2008);
and the Alan Paton Award for Literature (1994).
Solo exhibitions include The 81 ways of letting go a late self, Stevenson, Cape
Town, South Africa (2018) and UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa (2019);
Fragmented emergence of a late self - Breytenbach Sentrum, Wellington, South
Africa (2015); A Retrospective (Vingerverhale) - Artscape /Suidoosterfees, Cape
Town, South Africa (2013); Raakruimtes, A Retrospective - AkkuH, Hengelo, The
Netherlands (2009); Breytenbach Sentrum, Wellington, South Africa (2007);
Gorée, Gorée Institute, Dakar, Senegal (2004); Memory of Meaning - La Maison
Française, NYU, New York, USA (2002); Hong Kong Arts Centre, China (1997);
Retrospective - Verwey-hal, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands (1995);
Rétrospective Provisoire - Galerie de la Ville de Montreuil, Montreuil, Paris, France
(1987); and eight presentations with Galerie Espace, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(1964-2005).
Most recently, Breytenbach presented Skeursels, and Hokhokaai Fragmente an
exhibition of new artworks and a ‘folk book’ especially crafted for the Breytenbach
Center’s Woordmakersvallei project.
