Steve Bandoma was born in 1981 in Kinshasa, DRC. After graduating with a degree in Fine Art from Academies des Beaux-Arts, he moved to South Africa in 2005. Bandoma continues to interrogate and engage with the politics of post-colonial Africa through his participation in numerous group exhibitions both locally and internationally. He has won several arts awards and fellowships including the Art Buzz (USA) 2009 Book Collection with “Honourable Mention”, a Prohelvetia residency fellowship programme in Zurich as well as the “Visa pour la création” Afrique et Caraïbes en créations hosted by Culturesfrance at Cité Internationale des Arts in partnership with Mains D’oeuvres in Paris.
Bandoma has exhibited at Focus10 Contemporary Art Africa at Basel Art and recently has been selected for the Space, Currencies in Contemporary African Art exhibition, a fringe event of the 2010 World Cup hosted by Museum Africa in Johannesburg, that was curated by Thembinkosi Goniwe, Melissa Mboweni, Khwezi Gule, Bassam el Baroni, Elvira Dyangane Osse and Raphael Chikukwe. Contributors to the catalogue include Simon Njami, Meskerem Assegued, Abebe Zegeye, Bettina Malcomess and Sean O’Toole.
Bandoma is currently managing an African Arts Institute (AFAI) helpdesk project that advises and facilitates interactions with diaspora artists from different African countries in order for them to better access resources and infrastructure in South Africa.