News from the KZNSA Gallery:
“The KZNSA Gallery is excited to begin a new year with you as part of
our community. We are honoured to be trusted by makers from many walks of life
to be a space that carries and shares their stories with the world. As a
gallery which has a vision of being a highly-regarded contemporary art space
that engages its complex and diverse community with socially relevant concepts
for the support & development of artists and culture production, we do not
take this trust lightly. It carries responsibility, care, and a commitment to
holding space for meaningful expression.
“We are excited for our 2026 exhibition calendar and look forward to the
generosity of spirit, gesture and thought that our artists will share with us
all. The year ahead promises to be breathtaking - one that invites bold
experimentation, challenges the contemporary art landscape, and contributes to
shaping a future-facing society that is inclusive, questioning, and engaged.
“As we look toward the future, we must also take time to reflect on the
past. With this in mind, we pause to acknowledge the groundbreaking exhibitions
and programmes that the KZNSA was able to host in 2025. We are proud of the
artists, curators, and community members who made this work possible. We are
because of them.
2025 at the KZNSA: A Year in Review
Averting the Gaze
24 Jan – 16 Feb 2025
Averting the Gaze
confronted the overload of images and information that shape what we choose to
see - and what we look away from. Responding to issues of child trafficking,
missing women and neo-slavery, the exhibition used discarded materials,
reflective surfaces and varied media to explore themes of loss, responsibility
and collective accountability. The works invited viewers to examine their own
gaze within global systems of consumption, exploitation and silence.
The Inbetween
21 Feb – 16 Mar 2025
Developed through the ArtsResearchLab,
The Inbetween foregrounded practice-based research as a vital, accessible
form of knowledge production beyond the university. Featuring experimental and
collaborative works by multiple artists and researchers, the exhibition
explored art-making as a space of enquiry, curiosity and critical thinking. The
project sought to build research capacity at KZNSA while opening research
processes to broader publics.
Transformative Journeys in Mentorship
22 Mar – 20 Apr 2025
This exhibition showcased work produced through the Unlearn to Learn
mentorship programme, highlighting the transformative power of guidance,
exchange and unlearning. Spanning diverse media and subject matter, the works
reflected personal and artistic growth fostered through mentorship,
collaboration and dialogue, challenging conventional educational models and
celebrating collective learning.
New Abstractions – Austin Konchira
22 Mar – 20 Apr 2025
In New Abstractions, Austin
Konchira presented a personal abstraction practice shaped by decades of
artistic evolution. Centering machines and mechanical forms, the exhibition
reflected on technology as both awe-inspiring and unsettling, extending human
capability while evoking fear, power and imagination. The works paid tribute to
human ingenuity and labour, positioning machines as modern mythic beings within
Konchira’s painterly language.
groundWork: 25 Years of Activism for Environmental Justice
2 May – 8 Jun 2025
Curated by Vaughn Sadie, this archival exhibition traced groundWork’s
25-year legacy of environmental justice activism in South Africa. Drawing from
documentary photography, banners, publications, films and artefacts, the
exhibition amplified community voices and struggles against environmental harm.
It stood as a testament to grassroots activism, resilience and advocacy in
post-apartheid South Africa.
clay NOW!
10 – 22 Jun 2025
Presented by the Ceramic Association of Southern Africa, clay NOW! celebrated clay as both a
tactile, therapeutic medium and a site of innovation. Featuring works by
established ceramicists alongside DUT students, the exhibition highlighted
experimentation, learning and intergenerational exchange, affirming clay’s
enduring beauty across functional and sculptural forms.
Members’ Award Show: Imisinga (Currents)
27 Jun – 16 Aug 2025
Imisinga explored
water as a force of life, memory, vulnerability and renewal within Durban’s
social and environmental landscape. Artists responded to themes of flow,
survival, climate change and identity through literal and symbolic
interpretations of water. Selected through anonymous adjudication, the
exhibition celebrated diverse artistic voices while recognising outstanding work
through the annual awards programme.
The Prize money and the Joan Emanuel floating trophy are generously
sponsored by the Key Foundation and the Joan Emmanuel Trust.
Young Artists’ Project (YAP)
22 Aug – 21 Sep 2025
Revived with support from Rand Mutual Assurance, the Young Artists’
Project provided mentorship and professional development for emerging artists
and writers. Featuring solo exhibitions by N’lamwai Chithambo (Seeking) and Zama Mwandla (Disgust, Fear and Hell), YAP
foregrounded storytelling, identity, trauma and resistance, while nurturing the
next generation of creative voices in Durban.
WRITERS – Sneziwe Mahlalela, Ladia Kasimu, Mbusi Nhlakanipho Mzolo,
Thobekile Nontando Kweyama
Seeking – N’lamwai Luntha Chithambo
Young Artists’ Project
22 Aug – 21 Sep 2025
Seeking
presented a reflective overview of N’lamwai Chithambo’s recent artistic
journey, bringing together works unified by recurring motifs such as hands,
wings, light, figures and star-filled skies. Rooted in storytelling, allegory
and personal mythology, the exhibition explored themes of faith, identity and
inner contemplation. Each work functioned as a self-contained narrative,
inviting viewers into the artist’s imaginative and emotional world.
Disgust, Fear and Hell – Zama Mwandla
Young Artists’ Project
22 Aug – 21 Sep 2025
In Disgust, Fear and Hell,
Zama Mwandla confronted the psychological and spiritual toll of gender-based
violence and systemic harm against women. Through painting, fabric and
experimental materials, the exhibition created a visceral visual language of
dread, survival and resistance. Hybrid figures and dreamlike symbolism immersed
viewers in unresolved states of trauma, asking what art can hold when healing
is not yet possible.
Sizobika, Sicele Indawo – Selloane Moeti
10 Oct – 2 Nov 2025
Selloane Moeti’s debut solo exhibition offered an intimate exploration
of displacement, marriage and ancestral belonging. Through symbolic oil
paintings and ritual materials, the work reflected on intercultural unions, the
erasures faced by women, and the emotional negotiations of lineage and love.
The exhibition asked what is surrendered, inherited and remade in the search
for belonging.
SOLASTALGIA & Disordering – Jo Rogge & Jeanette Gilks
10 Oct – 2 Nov 2025
This collaborative exhibition reimagined The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries through a decolonised, African
and queer lens. Addressing climate crisis, sensory experience and disorder,
Rogge and Gilks combined tapestry, drawing, multimedia and archival material.
The exhibition explored interconnected systems of belief, ecology and
perception, weaving personal and collective histories into contemporary forms.
Izihlahla Ziyokhuluma (The Trees Shall Speak) – Amasosha Collective
11 Nov – 2 Dec 2025
Izihlahla
Ziyokhuluma centred trees as living witnesses of memory,
resilience and ancestral knowledge. Through material-driven works, Amasosha
Collective amplified often-silenced African narratives, reflecting on survival,
history and continuity. The exhibition marked a decade of the collective’s
practice, inviting audiences into a contemplative space of presence and
reflection.
BUZZART25
5 Dec 2025 – 18 Jan 2026
BUZZART returned as KZNSA’s annual festive art and design fair,
showcasing locally made art, craft, homeware, fashion and gifts. Partnering
with independent makers from KZN and Southern Africa, the fair supports the
local creative economy by offering a free retail platform and celebrating
innovation, craftsmanship and community.
Members’ Group Show 2025: Sizwakala Ngezandla (We Are Heard Through Our
Hands)
5 Dec 2025 – 18 Jan 2026
This annual Members’ Group Show celebrates making as a language carried
through the hands. Bringing together artists, artisans and craftspeople, the
exhibition honours patience, skill, heritage and care. The works highlighted
creativity as something felt as much as seen - shaped through the intimate
relationship between maker and material. Over 45 member-artists submitted close
to 250 pieces this year!
Okwethu Okwezandla
5 Dec 2025 – 18 Jan 2026
Developed with ifa crafted Makers & Designers and the ArtsResearchLab,
Okwethu Okwezandla explored heritage
as living, evolving practice. Rooted in isiZulu concepts of inheritance and
custodianship, the exhibition dissolved binaries between traditional and
contemporary craft. Spanning art, design, documentation and film, the project
celebrates thinking, speaking and creating through the hands.
The KZNSA Gallery is situated at 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood, in Durban.
More information on 031 277 1705 or cell 082 220 0368 or visit
www.kznsagallery.co.za
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