Features

As a distinction, perhaps our method of curating around absence begins with asking: who is not represented? This line of enquiry only opens the door to further scrutiny.

For more than six decades, Marguerite (Mags) Stephens has been quietly weaving the story of South African art - quite literally - using the medium of  tapestry. Sitting in her Johannesburg studio and the soft hum of creation, Stephens recalls how her life’s work began not as a grand plan but as a natural inheritance.

It should be in the interest of any good institution to consistently question itself and its ways of working. In the case of the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA), the question it’s asking itself is this: What kind of impact does our work have – on us, our students, our faculty, and the world around us?

On this episode of the Latitudes Podcast, Refiloe Mpakanyane is joined by Heba El Kayal. Heba is a curator, consultant, writer and researcher, originally from Cairo.

In recent years, the “ludic turn” has moved from an emerging tendency to a discernible cultural condition. Across the Global South and beyond, curatorial agendas, institutional commissions, and market-facing exhibitions have increasingly foregrounded play, both as a conceptual proposition and as an operative methodology.

We dig into how Millennials and Gen Z are redefining collecting: preferring more accessible price points, buying through auctions, supporting newer galleries, and leaning into art fairs not just for browsing but for community, identity, and story.

Gabrielle Kannemeyer’s debut solo exhibition re-examines the horse cultures of the Western Cape. Transforming a symbol once tied to colonial power, her photographs foreground kinship, dignity and belonging, situating these communities within a broader conversation about memory, identity, and reclamation.

In this episode of the Latitudes Podcast, Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to Moroccan-born and raised Touria El Glaoui about the impact of her cultural work.

Latitudes and Thrive Student Housing are teaming up to spotlight the next generation of creative talent. We’re inviting university arts students across South Africa to submit original artwork for a chance to be featured on a range of Thrive merchandise!

Listen in as Thandiwe Muriu shares her journey from a DM by 193 Gallery to having her work acquired by the UNESCO Art Collection, unpacking her creative process and hopes for Kenya’s art scene.

What does building energy ecosystems across Africa have in common with collecting contemporary art?

Chapter 2 of the Latitudes Podcast, which looks at connecting the stories from the continent, takes us to Lagos in this week's episode.

11 curators set to transform the African Art ecosystem

Having a foot in architecture has given Selwyn Steyn perspective, writes Tom van der Schijff

South Africa is known worldwide for its diversity in scenic naturescapes, wildlife that includes the Big Five, and cultures collectively known as the “rainbow nation”. Yet the reality of many everyday South Africans, entwined within the geography and biodiversity, is marked by compounded and imbalanced socio-economic patterns.

In her work for the HEAT Winter Arts Festival, what one finds is a state of suspension between worlds, between past and present, between here and there, between the known and unknowable, writes Nkgopoleng Moloi.

How do you bury a superhero? Asks Nino Jane Bergh. It seems like a monumental task, but one weathered by multimedia artist Rory Emmett, whose first show, Concerning Alchemy, at the AVA Gallery in 2017, is beginning to feel like something from deep time.

The UJ Art Gallery is proud to present Remembering and Forgetting: Landscapes in Dialogue, a powerful solo exhibition by artist and activist Kim Berman, from 7 August until 4 September 2025, as part of the University’s 20-year celebrations.

The episode happens under the aegis of revealing the realities and hidden truths of his studio practice; as well as unpacking the lessons he has learnt along the way and the events that triggered growth and change in himself and his creative practice.

In a year marked by reflection, stillness, and an enduring curiosity about what it means to be present, Naledi Maifala’s quietly powerful practice has risen to the surface, and captured the hearts of the ANNA Award judges.