BIOGRAPHY

Lilah Benetti (Naarm/Melbourne, Australia) is an internationally recognised artist whose work employs an autoethnographic approach to exploring the intersections of gender, sexuality, and racial politics. Grounded in a speculative and imaginative framework, their practice envisions proximate futures where the boundaries between reality and fiction converge to illuminate less visible narratives within global Indigenous Black culture.

Drawing from traditional and spiritual knowledge, Benetti employs unconventional forms of expression and archival techniques to foster new modes of resistance. They view the boundaries between still and moving images as fluid and porous, often expanding the medium through large-scale installations and immersive sonic architecture.

Across 2023/24 Benetti embarked on an extensive research journey throRughout Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Senegal and the UK deepening their exploration of gender non-conformity withinIndigenous spiritual practices as it intersects with contemporary Black culture.

Key works such as Black and Blur (2023 An-archival) and Les Somme De Nous (2024, experimental film) continue to explore these themes. Career highlights include exhibiting at Tate Britain (UK, 2025), international residencies such as Black Rock Senegal (Dakar, 2024), and features in Vogue Italy (2022), THE FACE UK (2022), and Art Monthly Australasia (2024).

contact

MGNT@lilahbenetti.com

For inquiries regarding exhibitions, prints, screenings, commissions, mentoring, or advisory services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via email.

If you’d like to be a part of Black and Blur, please email Lilah with the subject line: Black and Blur :)

@easylilah

SELECTED EXHIBITionS

TATE BRITAIN – LONDON - Feb 2025

Harlesden High Street Gallery - LONDON - Dec 2024

Not/Nowhere - LONDON - Dec 2024

Automat Collective – PHILADELPHIA - Dec 2024

DAK’ART Biennial - DAKAR - Dec 2024

Alta Forma – MELBOURNE - Oct 2024

Minor Attractions – LONDON - Oct 2024

Firstdraft – SYDNEY - Aug 2024

Kehinde Wiley’s Black Rock ‘Encounters’ - DAKAR - May 2024

James Makin Advisory – MELBOURNE - April 2024

International PHOTO – MELBOURNE - Jan 2024

Firstdraft – SYDNEY - Aug 2023

Centre Of Projection Art – MELBOURNE - Aug 2023

West Space – MELBOURNE - Jul 2023

Fed Square – MELBOURNE - Jul 2023

MPavilion – MELBOURNE, Dec 2022

Immigration Museum – MELBOURNE, Feb 2022

SELECTED residencies

Kehinde Wiley’s Black Rock – SENEGAL, 2024

The Art House UK – UK 2024

MQBMBQ (My Queer Blackness, My Black Queerness) – ITALY, 2022

selected awards

British Council - 2025

Ian Potter Foundation - 2024

Ubuntu Foundation - 2024

City of Melbourne - 2024

Creative Victoria - 2023

72nd Berlinale ( Honorable Mention) - 2022

Wyndham Art Prize - 2022

selected publications

Artsy - ‘Is Minor Attractions the Alternative Art Fair that London Needs?’ - Digital - 2024

The Royal Over-Seas League Journal - ‘ROSL International Artists’ - Print - 2024

Art Monthly Australasia - ‘On Endurance’ Musings on Black and Blur - 2024

Art Net - ‘Kehinde Wiley’s Closely Watched Artist Residency’ 2023

VOGUE Italia - ‘My Queer Blackness, My Black Queerness’ 2022

THE FACE UK - ‘My Work is Inherently Black and Queer’ - Feature - Digital - 2022

The Guardian - ‘On Black Tenderness in Australian Art’ - Feature - Digital - 2021

SELECTED talks

City of Melbourne - 2024

PHOTO2024 – ‘Artist In-Conversation’ hosted by Atong Atem, MELBOURNE, 2024

Gertrude Street Projection Festival – ‘Black Queer Futures’ hosted by Kate Ten Buuren, 2023

Testing Grounds – ‘Our Voices, Our Stories’ Panel Discussion – MELBOURNE, 2022

MPavilion – ‘Black Diasporas’ - MELBOURNE, 2022

I respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples - the Traditional Custodians of Naarm, the sacred land on which I live and work. I extend that respect to all Indigenous people across the Kulin Nation - from Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung, Wathaurrung, Taungurung to Dja Dja Wurrung country, acknowledging Elders past and present. This was and always will be Aboriginal Land. I extend my solidarity to all other Indigenous communities across the globe, as we continue to fight for the recognition of our land and our authentic histories.