Helena Uambembe was born in Pomfret, South Africa, in 1994 and lives in Berlin. She grew up in a family history shaped by the Angolan civil war: In 1975 her parents sought refuge in the troubled community of Pomfret alongside other families of the 32nd Battalion, a special-forces unit within the South African Defence Force made up largely of Black Angolan men. Uambembe, a member of the Kutala Chopeto collective, explores narratives surrounding history and place. She has been awarded the DAAD Scholarship Berlin, Baloise Art Prize Basel, David Koloane Award Johannesburg and the ars viva prize 2025.