Lexus Best Stand Award at RMB Latitudes 2026

More about the Selection Committee

Khetiwe McClain

Khetiwe McClain’s passion for art began early and was shaped through extensive studies in Italy, including Fine Arts at the Accademia di Belle Arti Pietro Vannucci in Perugia, architecture at the University of Florence, and specialised studies in Mannerism at the European University Institute in Tuscany.

Following her studies, she worked at the South African Embassy in Rome in the Trade and Multilateral sectors, where she helped curate exhibitions and cultural programmes across Italy during the post-1994 democratic transition.

After returning to South Africa in 1999, Khetiwe built a distinguished career in the mining sector, holding senior executive and board positions focused on mineral beneficiation and socio-economic development. Alongside this work, she championed creative industries and artisan development, collaborating on jewellery initiatives with emerging South African designers and international partners, including Sotheby’s. Her commitment to supporting underrepresented talent led to her appointment as a judge for the De Beers Shining Light Awards.

With a deep network across the arts and cultural sectors, Khetiwe has come full circle in returning to her first passion. She joined Strauss & Co as Client Advisory Executive Director in July 2023.

Kagiso Patrick Mautloa

Kagiso Patrick Mautloa studied at the Rorke’s Drift Art Centre in KwaZulu-Natal and the Mofolo Art Centre in Soweto. He has participated in the influential Thupelo and Triangle workshops, exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions, and is represented in major public collections across South Africa.

Working from the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios in downtown Johannesburg, Mautloa draws inspiration from the everyday rhythms of urban street life — from traders and hawkers to women roasting mielies on street corners. Texture plays a central role in his practice, with worn surfaces and found materials often informing his layered compositions.

His work moves fluidly between abstraction and figuration, combining delicate drawing, expressive mark-making, collage, found objects, installation, and photography. Primarily working in oils and acrylics, Mautloa’s practice continually invites viewers to see beauty and meaning in the overlooked details of daily life.

Pumla Maswanganyi

Pumla Maswanganyi is a strategist, researcher, critical designer, and founder of the interdisciplinary collective, with another. With a background spanning fine art, globalisation, and development, she has lived and worked across five continents, shaping systems, products, services, and experiences rooted in the realities of the Global Majority.

She is the author of the African Life-Centric Design (ALCD) framework, which transforms cultural intelligence into scalable social and commercial value. Her work focuses on localising design systems through knowledge architecture, material innovation, and speculative prototyping.

Maswanganyi has advised global corporations, cultural institutions, and governance bodies including Samsung, Mozilla, Cisco, the African Union (AfCFTA), the British Council, and the Clinton Foundation. She is also deeply committed to mentoring emerging curators and designers across Africa and regularly serves on international juries and selection panels, including the Core77 Design Awards.

As a keynote speaker and thought leader, she advocates for resilient, relational, and contextually grounded systems that reimagine the future of design and society.

Federico Freschi

Federico Freschi is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at the University of Johannesburg, a role he resumed in 2023 after previously serving from 2013 to 2019. An art historian, academic leader, curator, and cultural practitioner, his career spans more than three decades across higher education, research, and the creative industries.

Between his terms at UJ, he served as Professor and Head of College at Te Maru Pūmanawa | Creative Practice & Enterprise at Otago Polytechnic in Aotearoa New Zealand, where he led organisational restructuring and strengthened creative sector engagement. He has also held academic positions at UCT, Stellenbosch University, and Wits University, where he was Associate Professor in Art History and Acting Head of the Wits School of Arts.

Freschi’s research explores public art, architecture, national identity, and the role of the art market in shaping historical narratives. He has received fellowships from institutions including the Getty Foundation and WISER, and has published and edited several major scholarly works. In 2016, he curated Henri Matisse: Rhythm and Meaning, the first major exhibition of Matisse’s work on the African continent.

Alongside his academic and curatorial work, Freschi maintains an active creative practice as a classical baritone and performs regularly as a concert soloist.

About Lexus

Lexus is an automotive company that takes inspired design, relentless innovation and uninhibited performance and turns them into passionate, moving experiences. But that's only part of the Lexus DNA. They are equally dedicated to offering exceptional customer experiences. And in doing so, creating loyalty throughout the world—not just with the people who buy their vehicles, but the people in the communities around them.