One of my favourite things about sitting down with creative allies is how restorative those conversations can be. There’s something deeply reassuring about speaking with someone who wrestles with many of the same questions you do. Conversations like these remind you that self doubt, uncertainty, ambition, and the search for purpose are rarely yours alone. They are shared experiences, even if they unfold differently for each of us. That was the feeling I was left with after my

On 27 June 2026, I attended the 2026 official launch of amaQHAWEkazi at Sumthing Sumthing. Founded in 2022 by iQhawe Media and supported by iQhawe Magazine, amaQHAWEkazi, which translates to “heroines” in English, is a platform created to support, celebrate and connect creative women and women-aligned individuals across South Africa. Through mentorship, education, events and community building, the platform is trying to create spaces where ideas can grow, voices can be hear

On 28 May 2026, Southern Guild Cape Town opened How to Like It, a solo exhibition of new oil-on-linen paintings by London-based artist Lucy Robson. The exhibition runs until 9 July 2026. Lucy Robson is a London-based painter whose practice draws on photography, fashion imagery, and cinematic reference points to explore femininity, desire, and the emotional structures of romantic love. Her work is informed by pre-internet visual culture, nostalgia, and Girlhood, and often stag

A week ago, I had the opportunity to get on a WhatsApp voice call with one of South Africa’s growing voices in fashion and Cape Town’s creative culture, Awonke Moko, who many may already know through DJing. But the conversation we had stretched far beyond music. It became a conversation about fashion, identity, influence, creativity, and the importance of building from where you come from. If you’ve seen Awonke in real life or even through Instagram, you immediately get the s

Glory Days, a new solo exhibition by Brooklynbased multidisciplinary artist Chloe Chiasson, opens at Southern Guild New York on May 21, 2026. Across her practice, Chiasson draws from her upbringing in small-town Texas to construct immersive, image-dense works shaped by memory, Queer subjectivity, and the symbolic architectures of the American South. Chloe Chiasson. All images courtesy of Southern Guild Operating between image and structure, Chiasson’s compositions bring toget

MTArt Agency has partnered with One Nine Elms to create a new artist-led space within the landmark London development—transforming two full floors into a working, evolving hub that supports artists. By Khaya Mnisi All images courtesy of MTArt Agency Founded in 2015 by Marine Tanguy , MTArt Agency is the world’s first talent agency dedicated to visual artists, known for building artists’ careers beyond the traditional gallery system—across public space, brand collaborations,

Beata America is a Cape Town-based assistant curator at Zeitz MOCAA and co-founder of the wine collective Processus , which she established in 2020 alongside her wife, winemaker Megan van der Merwe. Originally trained as a classical musician, she has transitioned from the rigors of the conservatorium to the white walls of the museum, bringing that same relentless work ethic to a new kind of storytelling. In this conversation, we trace her journey from the piano to the muse

Southern Guild co-founders Trevyn (right) and Julian McGowan (left) in front of 75 Leonard Street, Tribeca, New York City, 2025. Courtesy George Etheredge/Southern Guild. Southern Guild will open its first New York gallery on April 24 in a landmarked cast-iron building on Leonard Street in Tribeca, launching with the U.S. solo debuts of South African artists Mmangaliso Nzuza and Usha Seejarim . Their exhibitions, Ballad of the Peacock and Used , will run concurrently thro

Shana Ellappa is a South African multidisciplinary artist and researcher, born and raised in Johannesburg and currently based in Cape Town. She holds a Master’s degree in Art from Rhodes University, where her research explored how art can function as a counter-archive for marginalised histories, drawing on African feminisms, postcolonial theory, and autoethnography. Her practice sits at the intersection of visual art, life writing, and memory work, engaging personal and famil

Woody De Othello’s practice moves fluidly between ceramics and painting, drawing on intuition, ancestry, and the quiet currents of everyday life. In this candid interview, he reflects on how spirituality, dreams, and texts like The Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Upanishads inform his work, alongside contemporary influences from television and storytelling. Othello discusses the evolving role of ceramics, the deliberate use of color in his exhibitions, and the centrality

In London’s contemporary art landscape there has been a quiet emergence of independent, curator-led platforms designed to “stir up how we experience art”, launching initiatives that “favour depth over novelty, process over product”, and creating “spaces where artists could expose their work and express their voices without censorship”. Such platforms include Teaspoon Projects, Display Fever, and Obtuse Archive. Obtuse Archive , co-founded by Selin Kir , and Yang Rung Chen , p

Display Fever , founded by artist and curator Naz Balkaya is an art platform and online gallery presenting multidisciplinary contemporary practices. Based in London, it operates through an international, multi functional model, staging exhibitions in both traditional galleries and alternative spaces. Display Fever perceives itself as a movement a supporter of artistic experimentation through collaborative methods — and is defined by a frenetic energy toward collectivism, inti

Meet Lesego , the Industrial Engineering student by day and skateboarding powerhouse by... well, also by day. Hailing from the Northern Cape but raised in Pretoria, Lesego has turned his passion for skateboarding into a movement. As the founder of LES Skate Pretoria, he's on a mission to spread the culture and create opportunities for skaters everywhere. When he's not hitting the streets or organizing events, he's hustling to build his own businesses. With a contagious energy

Photograph by Katie Abbott Nigel's world is “populated by a cast of anonymous characters who typically appear as if they are carved from...

Step into the fascinating world of Hans Op de Beeck, a multidisciplinary artist whose creations span sculpture, installation art, video film

Michelle Perkins on why low rates are not just crippling the photographer, but the industry as a whole. A reminder for creatives to know...

Opeyemi Matthew Olukotun, a Nigerian-born, Canada-based figurative painter. “My practice revolves around migration, identity, resilience,...

Fernandez's paintings are characterized by their surreal and playful tone, drawing inspiration from film noir, everyday life, and the...

Studio Portrait of Maliha Abidi

“ The most important parts of your practice often grow in the dark, and this is the hardest part: to be slow and intentional.” Claire...