INTERVIEW Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Supplied

Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) is the flagship artist development programme within the Nando’s Art Initiative. It aims to recognise emerging fine artists from Southern Africa who demonstrate exceptional talent. Now in its 15th year, the programme provides these artists with the support they need to advance their careers to the next level.

Each year, the Spier Arts Trust selects four artists and a mentor for the programme, which includes mentorship, material sponsorship, and a group exhibition. This year’s programme features Bekezela Mabena, Luxolo Witvoet, Mpumelelo Samantha Maseko and Viola Greyling. Their exhibition, titled Tiriparwendo — which runs from 13 November 2026 at HUB Gallery — takes its name from a Shona word meaning “we are on a journey”.

We spoke with Bekezela Mabena to find out more about his artistic journey.

What does it mean to you to have your work presented at the Nando’s Creative Exchange?

“Being part of the Nando’s Creative Exchange is both exciting and a little scary. Nando’s has opened doors for so many artists, and it feels like a privilege to now be one of those artists, with the opportunity to share my story and journey on a much bigger platform.

“It’s an opportunity to challenge myself, explore new ideas and connect with different audiences. Being part of a programme that supports artists and encourages us to push our creative boundaries means a great deal to me. I see it as an important step in my journey, and I’m grateful for the opportunities and challenges that have come with it.”

Can you tell us about the body of work you’re presenting – what ideas did you explore?

“My work explores themes of movement, time, space, identity and belonging, all of which are deeply connected to my personal experiences.

“I grew up moving between different places in Zimbabwe before relocating to South Africa when I was 11. Between Grade 1 and Grade 7, I attended seven different schools. These experiences of constantly moving and adapting to new environments have shaped the way I understand the world.

“A central thread in this body of work is the experience of migration, particularly the journey from Zimbabwe to South Africa across the Limpopo River. I’m interested in the courage and resilience that this journey requires, but also the fear, uncertainty and dangers that come with it.

“I also explore what it means to call a place home. Returning to Zimbabwe recently made me reflect on how our understanding of home can change over time. Despite my connection to the place, I sometimes felt like an outsider because of differences in language, dress and culture. These experiences have made me question how movement shapes our identities and our sense of belonging.”

Walk us through your creative process for this body of work – were there any unexpected challenges or breakthroughs along the way?

“My creative process often begins with looking for objects, shapes and materials that connect to ideas of home, memory and identity.

“I use familiar forms, such as squares that resemble the structure of a four-room house, a window or even the shape of an identity photograph. These elements become symbols of belonging and the spaces we occupy.

“In this new body of work, I’ve introduced pins that create shadows when illuminated. The pins themselves are almost invisible until light touches them, revealing something that wasn’t immediately apparent. I find this relationship between visibility and invisibility particularly interesting.

“As the light moves, the shadows shift, almost functioning like a clock marking time or a compass indicating direction. This connects to my ongoing exploration of movement, time and space.

“One of the biggest challenges has been finding ways to translate these complex experiences and emotions into visual forms. But the process has also encouraged me to ask new questions, some of which don’t necessarily have answers. I think that’s part of what makes creating art so interesting.”

What is one thing from your experience with the NCX programme that you’ll take away with you?

“One of the most valuable things I’ve taken from this experience is the importance of asking questions, even when there aren’t clear answers.

“The programme has challenged me to think more deeply about my work and the ideas of movement, time, space and belonging that continue to shape my practice.

“Having lived in Johannesburg for so long, I’ve also realised how important it is for me to step outside my comfort zone and experience different places and perspectives. Sometimes it’s difficult to reflect on an environment while you’re still living within it.

“I want to continue exploring what migration and movement mean to people across Africa, and how our experiences of different places shape who we become.

“The Creative Exchange has reminded me that artistic growth isn’t always about finding answers. Sometimes it’s about discovering new questions worth exploring.” | @mabenaart

Tiriparwendo is on show at HUB Gallery from 13 November 2026 at Union House, 25 Commercial Street, Cape Town. spierartstrust.co.za | @spierartstrust

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WORDS Palesa Mohola PHOTOS Suly Kuhn (Portrait), Justin Patrick

Laurie revisits a childhood memory of collecting stones, seed pods, tortoise shells, seashells and other found objects on his outdoor walks. This became the inspiration for his new collection: 24 ceramic reliefs appearing in raised sculptural detail, each depicting different species of birds, reptiles, insects, mammals and plants; a series of ceramic masks – including three larger African Mask Sculptures incorporating botanical references – that reinterpret decorative figures through carved details, playful accents and expressive glaze; and tall vases, ceramic seed pods, hawksbill turtle shells, trinket boxes and containers combining glass, cork and ceramic.

As Wiid Design‘s most ambitious exploration of ceramics to date, the collection navigates the natural world through ceramics, cork and glass – celebrating the remarkable diversity of South Africa’s natural environment and the wider African continent through its animals and vegetation: the secretary bird, Cape dwarf chameleon, pangolin, African moon moth, quiver tree and disa flower.

Field Notes: Nature Recast is on display at AAFRICAA, a destination for contemporary African design known for its carefully curated selection of fashion, homeware, jewellery, art and objects by established and emerging designers – a setting in which visitors encounter the collection as both art and design.

Field Notes: Nature Recast is showing until 30 November 2026 at AAFRICAA, located at the Alfred Mall at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. wiiddesign.co.za | aafricaastore.com

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WORDS & INTERVIEW Palesa Mohola PHOTOS Ntikana Ramohlale

Winning the Takealot Heritage Design Challenge in 2022 was a turning point in Tshepo’s journey. Since then, the creative has continued building a career that brings together art, design and storytelling through illustrations, murals, paintings and brand collaborations, celebrating African communities while helping brands connect with their audiences.

In this interview, he shares the importance of pushing personal stories forward and reminds us that the lives we sometimes consider ordinary are worth documenting and celebrating.

Could you tell us a little about yourself and your journey as an artist? What first drew you to painting?

“I’m Tshepo Masilo, known as TshepoMas, an award-winning illustrator, art director and African storyteller. I’m originally from Parys in the Free State and now based in Johannesburg. My work draws on everyday African experiences, township life and the cultures and traditions that shape who we are.

“Painting came from wanting to experience my work beyond a screen. I started as a digital illustrator, but I wanted to create something tangible, something I could touch and people could share a physical space with. That curiosity opened up a different side of my practice. My broader ambition is to travel across the African continent, learning about its people and sharing their stories through my work.”

What does the reality of being an artist in South Africa look like day to day, and what are the biggest challenges you face in building a sustainable career?

“For me, being an artist means balancing the creative work with the business of sustaining it. Alongside making art, there is time spent developing ideas, managing projects, building relationships and finding opportunities to get the work in front of people. One of the biggest challenges is finding a market that connects with the work, understands its value and can afford to invest in it. Art isn’t necessarily something people buy regularly, especially when they have other financial priorities.

“Working independently also means taking on much of the promotion and selling yourself. Without gallery representation, building those connections can be more difficult. For me, working across painting, illustration, murals and brand commissions has been an important part of building a sustainable practice.”

Your work spans cardboard cutouts, acrylic on canvas and packaging foam. How does your choice of surface affect the work, and do you find yourself drawn to a particular material?

“Over the past two years, I’ve been exploring ways to make my work more interactive while continuing to challenge myself. Different materials allow me to experiment with shape, texture and dimension, which changes how people experience the artwork. In my recent work, the choice of material has also become part of the story. Using cardboard and packaging foam speaks to the resourcefulness I’ve grown up seeing around me, where people find ways to make something meaningful from what is available.

“I’m drawn to that possibility of transformation. I don’t feel limited to one material at the moment. I’m interested in what each surface can bring to the story and how something ordinary or overlooked can become an artwork.”

There is a sense of intimacy in the way you portray people and their surroundings. How do you approach capturing someone’s personality or story without simply reproducing what you see?

“A lot of my characters come from imagination, but that imagination is shaped by people I’ve known, observed or grown up around. I draw on familiar expressions, gestures, postures and details that remind me of particular people or moments. I’m interested in capturing a sense of someone and the life around them. Sometimes a small detail, like how a person sits or holds an everyday object, can carry a whole story.

“What has been especially interesting is finding people who resemble characters I’ve already painted. When we were looking for models to recreate the scenes, some of those similarities were striking. There’s something almost spiritual about that for me, as though a person I imagined already existed somewhere.”

Your work seems particularly interested in ordinary, everyday moments. What is it about these moments that captures your attention? And how has your artistic practice changed the way you see everyday life?

“Often, it’s seeing something that takes me back to my childhood. It might be a routine, an object or a gesture that I didn’t recognise as a story at the time because it was simply part of everyday life. Looking back, I realise how much those moments hold. They tell us about care, family, identity and how we live. I’m interested in giving them the attention they deserve and preserving things we might otherwise take for granted.

“My practice has made me more observant and intentional about learning. It has encouraged me to look more closely at our different cultures, ask questions and document what I discover through my work.”

Your current painting series, Portraits of Home, documents daily life in an African home. Could you walk us through how you came up with this series and what it represents for you?

“Portraits of Home grew out of my previous exhibition, An African Home. I wanted to continue exploring the people and everyday rituals that give a home its character. The paintings capture scenes such as an uncle bathing with a basin, a grandmother crocheting, an older man smoking his BB tobacco, or an aunt doing the laundry with a baby on her back. These are moments that many people may recognise, but they are rooted in my own memories of growing up.

“For me, the series is a way of honouring those memories and the people within them. It reflects how home lives in our routines, relationships and the small things we remember.”

You chose to travel to Limpopo to shoot and document scenes from your painting series. What drew you to Limpopo specifically, and how did the landscape, people and environment influence what you wanted to capture?

“The trip came together through my collaboration with photographer Ntikana Ramohlale. I was drawn to the villages and landscapes of Limpopo, and the opportunity to bring the paintings into conversation with real people and places.

“It was my first time visiting the province, so there was also a sense of discovery. The people we met and the surroundings brought another layer to the work. Recreating the scenes became a collaboration, with each person bringing their own presence and personality to the image. We captured some special moments, and the experience showed me how a painting can become the starting point for another story.”

What do you hope people take away when they encounter your work, particularly when they recognise something familiar in the scenes you portray?

“I hope people feel seen and find something they connect with, whether it’s a person, a memory or a small detail that reminds them of home. I also hope the work encourages reflection and conversation. Someone might recognise their grandmother in a painting, while someone else might learn about a way of life they haven’t experienced.

“Ultimately, I want my work to carry our stories forward and remind people that the lives we sometimes consider ordinary are worth documenting and celebrating.” tshepomas.co.za | @tshepomxs

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WORDS Palesa Mohola PHOTOS JVR Architects, Jim and Tonic / Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography

Returning for their 20th edition, the Sony World Photography Awards come to the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography. Produced by Creo in collaboration with the World Photography Organisation, Decisive Moment: Sony World Photography Awards brings together selected winning images from the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Awards, on view in Forest Town, Johannesburg.

“To bring these images to Johannesburg is a real privilege. The exhibition gathers perspectives, stories, environments, cultures and artistic approaches from across the globe, and presents them in a city that is itself defined by complexity and diversity. We believe this exhibition will offer something meaningful to every visitor, while celebrating the extraordinary work of the Sony World Photography Awards,” says Roger Ballen, Founder of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography.

Alongside Decisive Moment is New Eyes: The Roger Ballen Centre Photography Award, an exhibition dedicated to emerging South African photographers. It aims to give selected photographers an opportunity to show their work within a leading institutional setting alongside recognised photographers to emerge from the Sony World Photography Awards.

This inaugural event brings together the work of Karabo Mooki, D.M. Terblanche and Zwelibanzi Zwane, who were nominated by an esteemed panel, each member of which brings a considered perspective shaped by their work across photography, education and curatorship. Both exhibitions create a dialogue between international photographic excellence and the emerging voices shaping the future of photography in South Africa.

At the centre of Decisive Moment and New Eyes is a substantial public and educational programme designed to deepen visual literacy and encourage closer engagement with contemporary photography. The programme will extend the exhibitions beyond the museum walls through activations, talks, walkabouts, workshops, masterclasses and educational engagements.

Reflecting the international reach of the awards, submissions totalled over 430 000 images from more than 200 countries and territories – spanning documentary and portraiture to wildlife, sport, landscape and creative photography.

The exhibition will run at the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography from 15 August 2026 to 22 January 2027. rogerballen.com | insideoutfoundation.co.za

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COMPILED BY Palesa Mohola PHOTOS Supplied

Solo Studios X, a festival hosted by Solo Studios, brings a twist with something completely new – a commemorative limited-edition box of 10 original prints created by renowned local artists, stalwarts of the original Solo Studios event 10 years ago.

With more than 60 artists, five galleries and numerous exhibitions, here are 10 ways to experience Solo Studios X:

10 Years, 10 Artists, 10 Boxes

Ten artists from the original group of creatives who helped shape the festival in its earliest years have each been invited to create 10 original prints which are destined to become collectors’ pieces. Chosen artists include Emma Willemse, André van Vuuren, Solly Smook, Sharon Bischoff, Wiehan de Jager, Riaan van Zyl, Gordon Williams, Lizette Visser, Tamlin Blake and Kevan Moses.

Art and Art Makers

The core experience remains the intimate connection with artists in their own studios, beginning with a close-knit group of 16 largely mid-career and emerging Kommetjie female artists. Their works were conceived on canvas, in sculpture and ceramics, and other media, with two chosen themes: Solo in Colour and Where is Home?

Second is an intergenerational exhibition of the Creative Kin Collective, a family collaborative art practice based in Riebeek Kasteel. The Collective’s works are full of colour, humour and the joyful unpredictability of making together, and a selection of these original works is now available as high-quality fine art prints.

Lastly are two hands-on workshops for people wanting to try their hand at art making: a Blue and White Ceramic Plate Painting Workshop with ceramic artist Antoinette du Plessis, and a Printmaking Workshop exploring drypoint etching – a direct technique that uses an etching needle or craft knife to create images on a Perspex plate – led by acclaimed artist Judy Woodborne.

Made in Brazil

Julia Franco, the Brazilian force behind art and design gallery NOSSO in Sea Point, has curated a collection of handcrafted Brazilian pieces which celebrate the colour, tradition and rich dialogue between contemporary South African and Brazilian creativity.

The collection ranges from intricate woodwork and tapestries to bright ceramics and contemporary functional design objects, all made in Brazil. The exhibition throws the spotlight on artistic energy and talent from Latin America – a first at Solo Studios.

Garden of Edible Delights

New to Solo Studios, The Valley Potager extends an invitation to take a moment and explore the fruits of one man’s gardening vision and labour. The idyllic one-hectare vegetable and fruit garden in the middle of the Riebeek Valley was lovingly designed and created by Jan Seidel in the style of a European kitchen garden.

EcoPlace

Louis Jansen van Vuuren, a multi-talented and visionary artist, will conduct an intimate guided walk of his remarkable, sustainably built luxury home and studio in Riebeek Kasteel, known as EcoPlace – built entirely out of recycled plastic and fabric, and filled with his work and that of other artists he admires.

Gardens become Galleries

Sculpture meets nature in two Riebeek Kasteel garden installations, curated by gallerist and curator Ilse Schermer. Sculptural works by artists such as Wilma Cruise, Strijdom van der Merwe and Jackie Lloyd, among many others, will become part of two garden settings: Huis van RAAF and The Valley Potager.

Walk and Talk

Guided walkabouts take place on Saturday, either with a stroll through the village while meeting artists in their own creative spaces, or by spending time in a single studio for a deeper dive. Leading the walkabouts will be artists Wiehan de Jager and Clayton Sutherland, who will guide visitors through the creative process behind their exhibition of ceramic wall-mounted artworks, vessels and sculptural pieces at Riebeek Valley Wine Co.

An Architectural Walking Tour of Riebeek West will be led by renowned architectural historian Dr André van Graan, and an art specialist from Strauss & Co. will lead an engaging talk about the art of art collecting.

The Art of Food

A selection of carefully chosen gourmet evenings, each a reflection of a different chef: a modern Japanese long table by Cheyne Morris of SAISEI, Big Fat Italian Table by Giuseppe, or a delicious spread at The Royal Hotel.

Swartland Sipping

Riebeek Valley Wine Co will guide participants through a curated selection of wines from Swartland, a big country which boasts some of the most internationally acclaimed and experimental winemakers in South Africa.

Sunday Send-off

When the studio and gallery doors close on Sunday afternoon, the weekend gets a musical send-off with The Art of Music in the magical setting of The Valley Potager Garden.

“When Solo Studios began 10 years ago, we never imagined the extraordinary community that would grow around it,” says Ashley Stone, co-organiser of the event. “Artists, collectors, visitors, volunteers and our partners have shaped what Solo Studios has become. Solo Studios X is both a celebration of that journey and an invitation to imagine what the next ten years might hold.”

Solo Studios 2026 takes place in Riebeek Kasteel from 23-25 October. | solostudios.co.za 

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WORDS Sean O’Toole PHOTOS Dillon Marsh, Courtesy Blank Projects, Goodman Gallery, Matt Slater, Charl Dettmer/Art Forme

It’s no secret that the commercial art world has been experiencing topsy-turvy times. The cycle of boom-and-bust of the past few years has seen art collectors cycle through rages for photography and installation, figurative painting and NFT art, textile and clay artists, and most recently safe-bet Modernists – preferably female Surrealists.

In such unstable weather, it is tough for makers and consumers of art to find their bearings. One reference is the secondary market, but it offers a glum diagnosis of things. Painting – be it figurative or abstract – is still is still top of the pops at auction. But, joyfully, there is a counterargument. It is being formulated in the studios of young artists in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Painting? Nah! Profiled here are five emerging artists whose practices typify some of the bold ideas being explored by young artists born aft er 1990. In summary, anything goes… just not painting.

Last year, PIA TRUSCOTT enrolled in a mentorship programme run by artist Dominique Edwards, prompting a radical shift in her practice – to working in three dimensions. The sculptural turn heralded by her recent “wire arrangements” goes back to a series of collages she made from discarded maps. “I began experimenting with wire,” she says. The material reminded her of drawing – “moving a line through space”.

But there was more to it than that. “ While it can be controlled and manipulated, wire also has the ability to bounce back and hold a life of its own.” Earlier this year, Pia presented a resolved body of these works at Cape Town’s AVA Gallery. Redolent of the work of Igshaan Adams and Bronwyn Katz, these porous and fragile pieces are the product of scavenging. The process is central to her practice – her earliest works were made from found plastic bags, which she arranged with a painterly aptitude for colour.

The individual elements (bits of rope, broken zips, left over 3D printing fi lament) in her “wire arrangements” are foraged on walks through Paarden Eiland, and from fabric stores in Woodstock. She says the suspended objects represent “an alphabet or language around daily life, and the places that I visit and the things that I pick up”. | @piatruscott

AARON PHILANDER started an experimental gallery with some friends in 2024, while still an art student at UCT – and he attributes his current visibility as an artist to the lessons he learnt co-managing Demo Projects. “It taught me how to network and talk to industry professionals,” he says. It also gave him a curatorial eye for displaying work. Most importantly, it taught him self-reliance – a quality that informed his graduate work.

Interested in sculpturally exploring what it means, historically, to be coloured (mixed race), Aaron’s student work comprised recycled tools and implements salvaged from the family shed. He’s consistently returned to his family for inspiration. In 2025, for his debut solo with AVA Gallery, he showed crude, wall- hung assemblages incorporating kitchen implements and photos linked to his deceased grandmother.

The “journey of self-discovery and healing” this work initiated continues. Earlier this year, Aaron presented a solo with Lemkus Gallery. His work included carved wooden reliefs, a kinetic sculpture and text works. Beneath the restraint of his work was a genuine ache. Many of the pieces referenced (and honoured) his hard-working grandfather, a retired artisan with dementia. “My practice has become a thing of learning – or relearning – what is forgotten.” | @aaron philander_

THEMBINKOSI HLATSHWAYO was three when his father opened Ray’s Inn in Lawley, southwest of Joburg. Locals nicknamed the violent drinking den “slaghuis” (butchery). Years later, while studying at the Market Photo Workshop, he drew on his youthful feelings of guilt and shame to produce “Slaghuis I” (2018) – a body of work that comprised various self-portraits of Thembinkosi in distressed poses, their worn-out surfaces a hallmark of his experimental photography. To achieve the texture, he photographed himself, made cheap photocopies, pinned them up in his father’s tavern, and re-photographed the results. His ingenuity was rewarded with the Swiss-based CAP Prize for Contemporary African Photography in 2019. Other awards followed.

But then, in 2021, his father died, and Thembinkosi had to take over the family business. “There was a self-destructive phase,” he says. His breakthrough photographic project about vestiges and residues saved him. He realised his work is about more than literal traces – it’s also about the things we inherit from our parents.

Thembinkosi’s recent solo with Blank Projects included new self-portraits and an installation made from blackened photocopy paper. “There’s something physical about seeing,” he says. “It touches you. It’s definitely how I treat the photo as well.” | @thembinkosih15

BEN ORKIN recently launched a physical therapy practice. “Unlock tension”, the Cape Town artist’s business card reads. But he hasn’t forsaken his great passion: clay. “Since starting to work with the body in 2025 and learning more about the anatomy of it, my relationship with clay has developed in exciting ways,” he says. The body, he explains, stores memories physically – just like clay.

Outwardly, Ben’s recent sculptural forms retain a formal likeness to the earlier glazed pieces informed by his gay identity, presented in his debut solo with Cape Town’s Whatiftheworld Gallery in 2021. All of Ben’s works are fabricated from rolled coils of wet clay that he stacks on top of each other, over and over, before smoothing them together. Their squat form and occasional multi-part assembly is linked to the small kilns he currently shares with his mother, ceramicist Gemma Orkin.

Ben constantly has to figure out clever ways to work at scale, as well as to protect the fragile protrusions. These logistical challenges speak to something essential about the medium. “You begin with such a malleable, soft , wet material, which then dries and becomes so fragile that you can barely touch it.” | @benorkin

OUPA SIBEKO formulated his liberated art practice by jumping between international residencies. “I’m more comfortable making works in residencies than for a gallery.” A 2025 solo at Lemkus Gallery summarised the various coordinates of his freethinking work. It included gonzo rubbings – oil and pastel frottage works, made on Cape Town’s streets, that have become his calling card. Everard Read will be showing a new series. The Lemkus show also included large-scale etchings made in 2023 in Germany using ice-skates as an engraving tool. If that sounds absurd, try fishing in a waterlogged Joburg pothole – which he did for a 2019 performance linked to a postgrad pivot to art. He says growing up in Roodepoort, among sinkholes and mining operations, made him partial to potholes. But it was caring for his stroke-affected grandmother as an adolescent that was consequential. Shortly before her passing, she instructed him to play. He obliged by studying theatre at Wits.

Performance, Oupa says, taught him about the importance of the body, of presence, of risk, of not knowing what’s going to happen. These qualities inform his rubbings, many made in District Six. The process of their making invites human encounter. People strike up conversations, ask questions. “That’s what I love about the streets. There’s no secrecy.” | @oupa.sibeko

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WORDS & INTERVIEW Palesa Mohola PHOTOS Nicole Landman

The President Hotel – set between the ocean and the slopes of Lion’s Head in Bantry Bay – holds a distinct place in the city’s hospitality landscape, shaped by a deep commitment to locally made furniture, natural materials and a curated selection of South African art.

It is this dedication to South African art that finds its fullest expression in In Residence, an ongoing exhibition series presented by The President Hotel in collaboration with local non-profit organisation Art School Africa, bringing Cape Town’s contemporary artistic voices into the everyday spaces of the hotel.

One of those voices is Zarah Cassim, a painter who works primarily in layers of oil paint and creates dream-like, surreal landscapes. Based in both Paris and Cape Town, she is a graduate of the University of Cape Town, where she completed an Honours in Fine Art in 2014, and the co-founder of Hotel Hernandez Art School. Her striking work has been exhibited across South Africa as well as internationally.

Zarah breaks down the creative process behind her work currently on show at The President Hotel.

Can you walk us through your creative process – from the initial idea to the finished work?

“I allow the painting to guide me. I often start with a colour and an abstract shape and build upon that, rather than beginning with a fixed idea of what the painting should become. Lately, I’ve also been allowing my children to collaborate on my works. They use my brushes and create images and marks on the canvas that I then work from and work into. I love the sense of freedom in this process, and seeing the dynamic way that one mark can inform the next and ultimately shape the final image.”

Memory and perception seem central to your practice – the way places linger long after their details have faded. How did this interest first develop, and are any of the works in this exhibition rooted in a specific memory or place?

“I’ve always felt that reality exists in multiple layers, and that perception plays a huge role in shaping our experience of it. I’m interested in becoming aware of those layers and questioning what we consider real and what we consider surreal. My works exist somewhere between a dream and reality. What feels like a dream to one person could be another person’s reality. It’s all connected to perception and to that very thin line between reality and illusion.

“The works aren’t necessarily rooted in one specific memory or place. They are more like fragments of memories and impressions that have been absorbed and reassembled.”

How does the natural landscape influence your work? Do you paint from observation, from memory, or somewhere in between?

“For the past few years, I’ve been travelling a lot and living between France, Spain and South Africa. The changing landscapes definitely enter my work on a subconscious level. I imagine spaces rather than painting specific places. Landscapes become blurred, and moments and imagery from one country find ways to collaborate and collide in a kind of subconscious collage. I’ve found similarities between certain spaces, and because I don’t work from photographs but from memory, I think there is a definite layered montage of places within my mind.”

What first inspired you to create for this exhibition, and what do you hope it communicates to those who encounter it?

“I think the work grew quite organically from the period of my life that I’m in now. Living between different countries, moving between familiar and unfamiliar landscapes, and experiencing life with my children has made me very aware of how much our surroundings and experiences shape the way we see the world. I wasn’t trying to create a particular narrative with this body of work. I wanted to follow the paintings and allow them to become their own spaces. I hope that when someone encounters the work, they can bring their own memories and perceptions into it. I like the idea that a painting can feel familiar without the viewer necessarily knowing why – that it can evoke a place, a feeling or a memory that belongs entirely to them.”

This exhibition spans oil on canvas, board and Fabriano paper. How does your choice of surface affect the work, and do you find yourself drawn to a particular medium?

“The surface definitely changes the way I work. Canvas gives me a sense of freedom and allows me to work quite physically, building up layers and marks. Board feels more contained and immediate, while paper has a delicacy that changes the relationship between the mark and the surface. I don’t necessarily choose the surface before I begin. Sometimes the material itself dictates how the work develops. I’m particularly drawn to the physicality of oil paint – the way it can be layered, scraped back and reworked. I enjoy that tension between control and unpredictability.”

The exhibition moves between large-scale works like The Dance I and more intimate pieces such as Sherbet, Berry and Bleed. How does scale shape the way you approach a painting?

“Scale changes the physical relationship I have with the painting. With a large work, I become much more immersed in it. I’m moving around it, stepping back and coming close again, and the marks become more physical and instinctive. The smaller works feel more intimate. There is a different kind of concentration involved, and I find myself noticing smaller gestures and details. I like having both within a body of work because they create different ways of entering the paintings. Some works ask you to step into them, while others ask you to come closer.”

What does it mean to you to have your work presented as part of the In Residence series?

“I really like the idea of the work being shown within a lived environment rather than being completely separated from everyday life. It feels appropriate to my practice because my paintings are connected to lived experience, memory and the spaces we inhabit. There is also an intimacy to In Residence. The work becomes part of an environment rather than something distant or untouchable, and I think that changes the way you encounter it.”

In Residence brings art into everyday spaces beyond the traditional gallery. Why is that kind of accessibility important to you, and how do you think it changes the way people experience art?

“I like the idea of encountering art unexpectedly, within a space that has its own sense of life and personality. It can make the experience feel more intuitive and personal. Art doesn’t have to feel distant or exclusive – sometimes the most meaningful connection happens when you simply come across a work and it speaks to you.”

You’ve exhibited in Australia, Spain and France, among other places. How has showing your work internationally shaped or challenged your practice?

“Moving between different countries has definitely influenced my work. Each place has its own visual language, landscapes, light and atmosphere, and I think all of those things find their way into my paintings, even when I’m not consciously thinking about them. Showing internationally has also made me more aware of how differently a work can be perceived depending on where it is seen and who is looking at it. That connects closely to my interest in perception – the painting remains the same, but the experience of it can change completely.”

In Residence, the exhibition series featuring Zarah’s work, will be on show until 11 January 2027 at The President Hotel. presidenthotel.co.za | artschoolafrica.com | @zarahcassim

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PHOTOS Supplied

Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) is the flagship artist development programme within the Nando’s Art Initiative, delivered in partnership with Spier Arts Trust. It recognises emerging fine artists from Southern Africa who demonstrate exceptional talent, providing the support they need to take the next steps in their careers.

Now in its 15th year, the programme continues to provide artists with mentorship, materials and exhibition platforms that help turn creative potential into sustainable careers. Bekezela Mabena, Luxolo Witvoet, Mpumelelo Samantha Maseko and Viola Greyling are the four artists selected for the 2026 Nando’s Creative Exchange. Their exhibition, titled Tiriparwendo, takes its name from a Shona word meaning “we are on a journey”.

Bekezela Mabena

Home is not always where you were born. Sometimes, home is something you spend a lifetime moving toward. For Bekezela Mabena, that search has become the defining subject of his art and, more recently, the lens through which he understands fatherhood.

Born in Tembisa in 1996, Mabena is a Johannesburg-based visual artist and printmaker whose practice has been shaped by his movement between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Questions around migration, identity and belonging feel less like themes and more like lived reality. But becoming a father shifted something fundamental. “Being a father makes you think about time differently,” he says. “It makes you realise that being a traveller and migrant isn’t just about moving across land; it’s about passing down who you are.”

When Mabena returned to the place that first made him, he found himself a stranger to his own old ways. The process of relearning – sitting still long enough to simply be somewhere – became the emotional core of this body of work. “It’s a mirror for anyone who has ever felt they belong to more than one place,” he says. “It is about faith, about starting over, and about finding out that no matter where the road takes us, we are all just trying to make it home.”

His mixed-media prints and paintings bring these ideas into bold, layered visual conversations, where colour and mark-making do the work that words cannot. Through the Nando’s Creative Exchange, Mabena joins a cohort of artists who share an understanding that the most personal work is often the most universal – and that belonging, wherever you find it, is worth expressing. | @mabenaart

Luxolo Theophilus Witvoet

Luxolo Theophilus Witvoet never had a formal art education. What he has is life experience, which can’t be taught: a personal history of displacement, a sharp eye and an instinct for finding the extraordinary in the everyday.

Born in Qonce (King William’s Town) and raised in Cape Town, Witvoet’s story of migration begins long before his own birth. “This body of work is deeply rooted in my own history of migration,” he says, “a legacy that starts with my grandparents’ journey from Lesotho and the Northern Cape to Cape Town in search of a better life.” When his parents’ marriage broke up, a six-year-old Witvoet was relocated to Cape Town with his mother. He describes the move as a feeling of exile. “While migration and exile are separate concepts, I see them as cousins,” he says.

A multidisciplinary artist who moves fluidly between digital image-making and traditional painting, Witvoet turns his gaze toward people forced to flee, migrate or live in exile, examining the circumstances that compel people to leave and what happens to the communities, stories and identities left behind. He incorporates his subjects into scenes and landscapes rather than painting them in isolation. He renders them in acrylic, then uses tobacco ash, flashband, gold leaf and cut-out canvas to translate digital figures into tactile, layered surfaces.

Witvoet brings a uniquely forged creative language to the Nando’s Creative Exchange – and a body of work that insists on asking who we are, where we come from and what we carry when we leave. | @luxolowitvoet

Mpumelelo Samantha Maseko

Mpumelelo Samantha Maseko lets the subject matter of her art determine the medium she uses. She says her work rewards those who dare to look closer. Born in Boschfontein, Mpumalanga, in 1997 and now based in Johannesburg, Maseko’s multidisciplinary practice spans oil painting, collage, assemblage, mixed media and printmaking. It deliberately refuses to be confined to a single form of expression. At the centre of it all is a singular focus: Black femininity, identity and the intimate, layered process of becoming.

Her work explores migration as a psychological and cultural experience. “I am interested in what remains within the individual after they have crossed a geographical boundary,” she says, “the memories, language, beliefs, culture and identities that continue to shape their sense of self.”

The figures in her paintings reflect this tension. “The absence of a mouth speaks to the silencing and displacement that can occur when an individual enters an unfamiliar social environment, where even the way they speak can become a marker of difference.” Fabric, meanwhile, becomes an extension of home – cultural memory made visible. Hair, too, marks identity, communicating cultural affiliation and geographical origin long after a person has physically moved away.

Her work does not position Black women as subjects to be interpreted, but as the authors of their own stories, their own myths and their own evolving power. Through the Nando’s Creative Exchange, Maseko steps into a new phase of storytelling with the mentorship, resources and collective energy to push her practice further. | @impumelelo__m

Viola Greyling

Not all journeys are measured in kilometres. Some are felt in the body, carried across generations or, in Viola Greyling’s case, traced and pressed into clay.

Born and based in Pretoria, Greyling is a ceramic artist whose sculptural work explores identity, memory and the emotional landscape of belonging – particularly as experienced through migration and displacement. For Greyling, clay is a collaborator. “In its unfired state, its plasticity allows it to shift and react when moved, holding a physical memory of change,” she says. “This material behaviour reflects the way we, as people, respond to the environments we move through, carrying traces of each place while continually adjusting to the next.”

Her forms draw on the slow, patient growth of stalagmites. Identity is interpreted as something shaped gradually through time and experience rather than fixed at a single point. Seeds collected from specific places connect the work to the environments she has moved between, translated into clay as small records of place that capture fragments of an environment and a moment in time. Found objects pressed into clay surfaces function as markers of place, traces of movement and imprints of a hybrid identity still being navigated.

“Migration does not simply mean leaving one place for another,” Greyling says, “but carrying pieces of each place with us as we evolve.” Her contribution to the Nando’s Creative Exchange is a practice as patient and deliberate as the medium itself – and work that asks us to consider what we carry with us, and what we leave behind. | @violaartgrey

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WORDS Neyani Mphephu PHOTOS Slater Studio

At the corner of Alpha and Lower Loop Streets in Cape Town’s CBD, a daily commute has become an encounter with African photography. The Mission for Inner City Cape Town has unveiled Alpha Street Gallery, a free, open-air exhibition that transforms one of the city’s busiest pedestrian routes – travelled by 8 600 people each weekday – into a space for pause and discovery.

The gallery presents two collections, curated by Ruby Schalit of ICLEI Africa and Shani Judes of SJ Artists. Unsung Heroes, developed through AfriFOODlinks’ #AfricanCITYFOODMonth photography competition, features winning images selected from more than 180 submissions by photographers across the continent. The collection celebrates the often-unseen individuals who sustain urban food systems – informal traders, community growers, researchers, educators and custodians of traditional food knowledge. City in Motion, a retrospective drawing on six years of RISE Africa’s annual photography competitions, offers perspectives on how people experience, shape and reimagine cities, capturing the movement and complexity of African urban life.

SJ Artists and Orms bring a track record of outdoor photography to the project, having staged similar displays along the Sea Point Promenade. “Our vision has always been to create an Inner City that feels vibrant, welcoming and alive every day of the week,” says Brad Armitage, co-founder of Mission for Inner City Cape Town. “Every artwork, every activation and every investment in the public realm gives people another reason to walk, explore and reconnect with Cape Town.”

“Cities are remembered because of how they make people feel,” says Brad. “Public spaces should do more than simply move people from one place to another. They should spark curiosity, encourage people to stop, connect and experience the city differently.”

For Ruby, displaying the images in the heart of the city carries its own significance. “Bringing these images together helps us see African urban life in all its diversity and displaying them in the heart of Cape Town means those stories can now become part of thousands of people’s everyday journey through the city,” she says.

Shani sees the work as a means of strengthening how people relate to their surroundings. “When our cities celebrate local stories and lived experiences, public spaces become places of pride, connection and belonging,” she says.

Free to visit, Alpha Street Gallery invites commuters, residents and visitors alike to encounter African photography in an unexpected setting – proof that some of Cape Town’s most inspiring galleries have no walls at all. missionforinnercity.org | africa.iclei.org

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WORDS Palesa Mohola PHOTOS Courtesy of Gallery MOMO

Gallery MOMO is no stranger to the American art scene. It has exhibited at art fairs such as EXPO CHICAGO since 2019 and at Navy Pier in April 2026, and maintains an artist residency with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Atlanta Art Fair is the next American chapter of that programme and marks Gallery MOMO’s first appearance at the fair.

Representing the gallery are two South African artists whose practices, though distinct in medium and approach, share a deep engagement with identity, memory and heritage.

Fhatuwani Mukheli is a Johannesburg-born multi-disciplinary artist whose work often centres on the relationship between parent and child. Working in acrylic paint, charcoal, fineliner and spray paint, he gravitates towards earthy reds drawn from his Venda heritage.

Blessing Blaai is a Johannesburg-based visual artist and muralist trained in painting, drawing and printmaking. He works across oil, acrylic, watercolour, ink and mixed media.

The works that will be showcased at this year’s fair comprise paintings and mixed-media pieces, including Fhatuwani’s A Study of Freedom, a large four-panel painting, and Blessing’s Surmount, a mixed-media artwork.

We spoke to both artists, who gave us insight into the creative process behind their works for the Atlanta Art Fair:

Can you walk us through your creative process, from planning your piece to the final product, and what was your favourite part of making your exhibition piece?

Fhatuwani Mukheli: “My process is quite layered and can be lengthy because I find inspiration everywhere. I read a lot of art books, Renaissance books and art history, looking at the stories artists were telling at the time and imagining my own life and reality within them. I’m also constantly collecting references, colours, compositions, clothing, poses, light, music and things I see in everyday life.

“From there, I sketch and build compositions, sometimes reimagining historical works and sometimes creating completely new stories rooted in my upbringing and where I come from. My favourite part is when all those different references finally come together and the work begins to feel like my own world.”

Blessing Blaai: “Process starts from a collection of drawings and references (new and old) which basically form my “library”. I take cut-outs I’ve made, drawings and other motifs and combine them to form the base of the artwork, which is done as an underpainting. Once happy, I start the next step where I section each part of the work using masking tape (which has become both tedious but very satisfying at the end), then paint.

“Once dry, I pull off the tape, which has become my favourite part as I get to see the results for the first time.”

What new ways of creating did you experiment with when putting together this piece, and how did they improve the quality of your work?

FM: “I’ve been experimenting more with how I build compositions and how different references can exist within one image. Instead of simply recreating a historical composition, I take elements from different places, Renaissance imagery, photography, contemporary African life, clothing and my own memories, and reconstruct them into something new.

“This has allowed the work to become more layered and intentional. I’m thinking beyond just making a beautiful image and asking what every gesture, object, pose and compositional decision contributes to the story.”

BB: “In my recent works, I’ve approached them as if I’m doing a multicolour linocut, which has allowed me to place elements harmoniously, giving a nice uniform look while creating depth.”

What story do you hope to tell with your art piece?

FM: “I want the work to feel like a reflection of my life, my upbringing and the people and communities that shaped me. At the same time, I’m interrogating art history, particularly Renaissance art, and asking what those images might have looked like if people who looked like me had been given the same dignity, beauty and monumentality.

“In many ways, my work is about deconstructing history and reconstructing it through my own perspective, placing Black people at the centre of stories where we were historically absent.”

You are trained in painting, drawing and printmaking, and work across oil, acrylic, watercolour, ink and mixed media. How did you ensure that your different ways of creating were represented and still balanced in your piece?

BB: “Within the different mediums that I’ve learned to use, each has come with a certain principle that I keep. For example, when working with ink on paper, all works had to be clean even if the process was messy (which is very aesthetically pleasing). This is one of the rules I’ve applied to the final look of my works.”

How does the surrounding environment and natural landscape influence or inspire your work?

FM: “My environment is a huge part of my work. I grew up in Soweto, but my family history and Venda heritage are also deeply connected to how I see the world. I’m inspired by landscapes, homes, family spaces, people, clothing, textures and even the colours around me.

“But environment for me isn’t only physical. It’s also the music I’m listening to, conversations I’m having, things happening around me and memories from my childhood. Inspiration is everywhere; I’m constantly looking.”

What feeling do you hope audiences get when they view your artwork?

FM: “I hope there is an immediate sense of beauty, dignity and presence, but I also want people to stay with the work long enough to question what they are seeing. I want them to recognise something familiar while also seeing history from a different perspective.

“Ultimately, I want the work to feel human. Even though I’m having a conversation with art history, the people in my paintings come from my world. I want audiences to see Black people represented with tenderness, strength, beauty and the same sense of importance that has been given to figures in classical art for centuries.”

BB: “I want the audience to feel an array of emotions (depending on the piece they are looking at), but the overall purpose is for them to feel like they fit into the piece despite the emotions they’re experiencing.”

The Atlanta Art Fair continues to be a platform for cultural enrichment and artistic exchange. Now in its third edition, the fair takes place from 1–4 October 2026 at Pullman Yards in Atlanta, bringing more than 70 galleries from around the world. gallerymomo.com | theatlantaartfair.com

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