Born in Mozambique, Angela Ferreira grew up during the apartheid years in South Africa, where she trained in Fine Arts at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. She lives and works between Portugal and South Africa. Ferreira's work focuses on the continued impact of colonialism and postcolonialism on contemporary society, emphasising identity and intercultural relations between Africa and Western countries. In her object-based, architectural, sound and videographic production, she makes constant reference to the social, political and economic history of the African continent, while analysing the attempts, often failed, of architectural modernity to adapt to African realities. Ferreira recovers the work and image of African fighters such as the poet Peter Blum, the journalist Carlos Cardoso, the poet Ingrid Jonker, and the singer and activist Miriam Makeba, among others.

Following her first individual exhibition at the Centro de Arte Moderna Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon (1990), Ferreira exhibited in prominent spaces in Porto, Stockholm, London, Johannesburg, São Paulo and Cape Town. She represented Portugal at the Venice Biennale (2007) and participated in the Lubumbashi Biennale, Congo (2013) and Chicago Architecture (2017). Her work is included in collections such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Fundação de Serralves, Porto; Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; FRAC Dunkirk, France; Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela; and MACBA Barcelona, among many others.