Public Programme
Friday Public Programme | 7 August
10:00-11.00
12:00-13.00
14:30-15.30
Walkabout with Azola Krweqe
Krweqe is an artist-curator and administrator. With a BA (Hons) in Curatorship and a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Cape Town, she currently works at the KZNSA Gallery, advocating for accessible, community-centred art spaces and transformative institutional frameworks.
10.30
Walkabout of galleries and design zone with Sumayya Menezes
Menezes is a visual arts educator with a keen interest in contemporary visual arts pedagogies. She holds an MA Visual Arts (distinction) from the University of Johannesburg.She currently lectures in the Arts Extended Curricular Programme in the Fine Art Department at the Durban University of Technology.
10:00-11.00
12:00-13.00
14:30-15.30
Imagining Futures
Creative Pathways: a conversation with artist, Mmangaliso Nzuza and collector and art-market professional, Kyle Hutchings on careers across the creative ecosystem, moderated by Dr Rachel Baasch.
Saturday Public Programme | 8 August
Sunday Public Programme | 9 August
10.30
Walkabout of galleries and design zone with Sumayya Menezes
10:00-11.15
12:00-13.15
14:30-15.45
Making sessions with artists in a choice of mediums.
From charcoal drawing, tetrapack printing or paper clay sculpting.
12.30
Making a Scene: Self-Organised Initiatives as Alternative Cultural Infrastructure
What happens when artists build the structures they need for cultural production to thrive?
Across KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa more broadly, artists are increasingly establishing their own spaces, collectives, guilds, publications, educational programmes and community-based platforms. Emerging in response to local needs, institutional gaps and shared ambitions, these initiatives are creating new forms of cultural infrastructure that support artistic production, collaboration and exchange.
12.30
Sustainability is often discussed in terms of materials and environmental impact, but what does it mean to build sustainable creative economies?
Bringing together representatives from Ifa Crafted, The Herd, Belgotex and this panel explores how design, making and entrepreneurship can contribute to more sustainable futures. The discussion will consider the relationship between cultural heritage, contemporary design, ethical production and environmental responsibility, while examining how creative industries can support livelihoods and strengthen local economies.
14.30
Making Art History from Below
It is often said that history is written by the victors. In the 1970s and 80s progressive historians began writing a “people’s history” of South Africa “from below” to counter the official narrative that marginalised the experiences of black South Africans. The Africa South Art Initiative, a non-profit company, has positioned itself as “making art history from below.” What does it mean to ‘make’ art history, and to do so ‘from below’? Is it possible to impact on local and global art histories, especially when one works from a position of limited resources, or is this a well-intentioned but pointless exercise, destined, at best, to advance marginal art histories?
14.30
From Initiative to Infrastructure: Building Art Ecosystems
Across South Africa, artists, independent organisations, commercial galleries, collectors, foundations, and cultural institutions all play a role in shaping the conditions under which artistic practice can thrive. While artist-led initiatives are often sites of experimentation and innovation, their long-term sustainability frequently depends on broader networks of support, collaboration, and investment.
