Bongeka Nontethelelo Khumalo (Gqeberha)
Holding space in city’s shadow Photography 41,5 cm x 59 cm Artist’s Statement Captured in Gqeberha, this photograph reflects the quiet strength of informal street traders who carved out space for survival within the city’s neglected margins. Set against a weathered wall layered with graffiti, torn posters and worn textures, the vendor is partly swallowed […]
Yehoshua (Shui) Yissochor Hoppenstein (Johannesburg)
Custodian of the past Linocut BAT 48,5 cm x 63,3 cm Artist’s Statement Custodian of the Past portrays the idea of spending a life building a legacy and being forced to age quietly in the background as the world changes beyond familiarity, forgetting all that was once built. The figure sits guarding a mighty tree, […]
Loyiso Lloyd Hlawula (Gqeberha)
Uniformed. Unnamed Mixed media 79 cm x 60 cm x 53 cm Artist’s Statement Uniformed, Unnamed is an installation that reflects on the lived experience, erasure, and emotional weight carried by domestic workers in South Africa, with the identity of Mama Dineo at its centre. The work is crafted from used and used dishcloths, hand-sewn into […]
Sphesihle Brian Hlatswayo (Pretoria)
Forgive the method, remember the love Candle smoke on tissue paper 89,5 cm x 64,5 cm Artist’s Statement Forget the method, remember the love explores the often unspoken complexity of childhood discipline, particularly within African households. The image of a mother holding a belt and a child with their head lowered is not an endorsement […]
Saskia Yoriko Hertell-Moraloki (Pretoria)
4 Minutes to leave Mixed media assemblage Installation: 130 cm x 70 cm x 80 cm Artist’s Statement Mobile Living Conditions is a small series of assemblages (created in 2024) that reference precarious home environments. I source materials from recycling yards and collect used objects, which I deliberately tear and take apart to reconstruct and […]
Viola Greyling (Pretoria)
Suspending and evolving Ceramic Installation: 215 cm x 120 cm x 45 cm Artist’s Statement The ceramic sculptures submitted are inspired by the natural formations of stalagmites and stalactites, drawing on the language of caves as spaces of memory, emergence, and introspection. These organic forms echo a personal journey — one of returning, of searching […]
Siwaphiwe Gqwetha (Qqeberha)
Umalusi (someone responsible for livestock) Ceramics 38 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm Artist’s Statement My ceramic piece Umalusi is based on my late grandfather’s favourite cow that always gives birth every year. Unlike his other cows, this one was special to him. Naming this piece Umalusi, which is a Xhosa word that refers […]
Rebecca Louise (Beck) Glass (Pretoria) | 2025 Merit Award Winner
Sell – Fish Etching Edition 1 of 15 62,5 cm x 52,5 cm Artist’s Statement This etching explores the complex duality of being both the creator and the product within an artistic career. Set within the surreal confines of a fish market, the central figure — part human, part fish — embodies the tension between […]
Reinhard Giezing (Johannesburg)
This is not a toy Paper and leather 20 cm x 12 cm x 2 cm (folded) 20 cm x 12 cm x 70 cm (unfolded) Artist’s Statement How beautiful would the world be if you could hand a weapon to a child, and they could play with it without fear of injury? What if […]
Jessica Philile Mawuiena Foli (Pretoria)
Pussy: A natural scent Digital print on archival etching cotton rag Edition 1 of 5 46,5 cm x 37 cm Artist’s Statement This work is a response to the societal pressure for women’s vaginas (pussies) to smell a certain way, like vanilla, strawberry, lavender or pineapple. When I was growing up, women’s magazines and teen […]