Jay Pather

Jay Pather is a Professor at the University of Cape Town and Director of the Institute for Creative Arts. He serves as a curator for major festivals including Infecting the City Public Art Festival, ICA Live Art Festival, and Afrovibes Festival in Amsterdam. His research focuses on curatorial practices, live art, decoloniality, and interdisciplinary arts. Pather will be a Belknap Long-Term Visiting Fellow at Princeton University's Humanities Council and Lewis Center for the Arts during Spring 2026, where he will teach an undergraduate course on interdisciplinarity, curation, and decoloniality.

His notable publications include Acts of Transgressions, Live Art in South Africa (2019) and Restless Infections, Public Art for a Transforming City (2025). He has received the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government. Pather's work intersects academia with artistic practice through curation, choreography, and institutional leadership in creative arts initiatives.