Mathias Alubafi Fubah

Dr Mathias Fubah Alubafi is a senior research specialist in the HSRC’s Developmental, Capable and Ethical State research division. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in History of Art from the University of Reading (2009). Prior to this, he completed a BA (Honours) in Archaeology and an MA in Heritage Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand, respectively, and more recently a postgraduate Diploma in Education (with distinction) from the same institution. Alubafi specialises in historical and contemporary African art, museums, cultural heritage, and ageing in Africa.

Alubafi was formerly a research fellow at the Department of History of Art at Wits (2010–2011); a research fellow at the Centre of African Studies, Cambridge (2012–2013) and a research fellow at the Ethnological Museum, Berlin (2013). From 2016 to 2018, he led an HSRC project that focused on “The Symbols South Africans Want”, for which he co-edited the book: Exchanging Symbols: Monuments and Memorials in Post-Apartheid South Africa (African Sun Media, 2020). In 2017, he co-managed a project that set out to understand older persons services in Gauteng for the Gauteng Department of Social Development and recently completed a British Academy funded project: The Role of Traditional Food Systems in Rapid Urbanisation (2022 to 2024) in which he served as co-PI. During the past decade, he has mostly conducted his research around art and museums and public art in Africa with a specific focus on Cameroon and South Africa.