Story Rebels

Malika Ali Harding (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher whose projects merge staged photography, sound, and memory. Through her practice, she maintains a dialogue with sound, performance, video, screenwriting, embroidery, and installation. Her work explores African American ancestral myth making and employs deep listening as a tool of identity preservation. Using collective memory as raw material, she creates self/family portraits to expand her lineal archive and reinterpret vernacular histories.

Malika has shown in group exhibitions and film festivals in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Cleveland, as well as online. She has been featured on several podcasts and in publications such as The Quick + The Brave (Paper Zero: Advocates + Allies, 2025). Her residencies include the inaugural “Black Arts. Black Pedagogies. Black Futures.” at Metro54; the Moving Arts Centre Amsterdam's (MACA) space for filmmakers and audiovisual artists; and KORDONair on Hiiumaa island in Estonia. Her work has recently been acquired by The Collaboratory for Black Poiēsis at the University of Toronto, Canada. From 2014 to 2017, she served as co-founder and director of the South Los Angeles alternative art space On The Ground Floor.

Malika earned a BFA from Howard University and an MFA from the American Film Institute Conservatory. Born in Cleveland, Ohio (USA), she now lives in The Netherlands where she maintains her studio practice.