Lynette Sifiso is a writer, visual artist, and cultural curator. She holds an MFA (Writing) from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, a Master’s in Conflict Resolution from Columbia University in New York City, and a Bachelor’s in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of South Africa.

Prior to focusing on her creative and cultural work, she spent over a decade working in international relations, holding roles at the United Nations, the Obama Foundation, and the World Bank Group.

Her body of work is interdisciplinary and concerns itself with creating spaces for dialogue between people, places, and things. She works across many disciplines and areas of practice, including literature [creative nonfiction, fiction, and hybrid forms], visual art [text-based art, mixed media and installations], social practice [participatory and community-based projects], and social science [cultural diplomacy and peace-building]. Her work is shaped by an African-diasporic sensibility, positioned within a broader global discourse.

Lynette Sifiso runs her literary and visual art practice at Studio Lynette Sifiso. She is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Globally Rooted, an independent international magazine about ways of living inspired by cultures around the world, and Stone & Sahara, a brand dedicated to the cultural life of African cities. Lynette Sifiso is the Founder and Creative Director of the Bakani Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the creative and cultural heritage of Africa and its diaspora. The Foundation houses, among other programs, the African Museum of Collective Wisdom, a digital archive of African and Diasporic artistic expressions, cultural memory and living knowledge.

She lives and works between the US and Zimbabwe.