Nyeleti Mashele is a Master’s candidate in Architecture at the University of Johannesburg’s Graduate School of Architecture. Her work explores the intersection of memory, erasure, and spatial justice through a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates tapestry and film as methods of architectural inquiry and expression.

Her thesis project, Etched in Absence: Inscriptions of Labour, Memory and Erasure, traces the hidden histories of Indian indentured labourers and enslaved Mozambicans in Durban. The project investigates how architecture can inscribe memory in ways that move beyond romanticized forms, engaging silence, trauma, and resistance as materials in the design process.

Nyeleti is also a content creator, producing work that reflects on architecture through the lens of a student, aiming to make architectural discourse more accessible, reflective, and grounded in lived experience.