AVA 100

Building Common Space for Artists

Association for Visual Arts 2026 Members Exhibition

25.09.26 - 08.10.26

“What is unusual for a non-profit collective is not the constant shape-shifting but rather AVA’s longevity. It is almost 30 years old but if you consider its genealogy over the past 170 years, it includes an array of entities, starting from a private club of art patrons to a collective of artists, birthing a national museum, founding the country’s first fine arts association, morphing into a national body, becoming a regional offshoot, and finally seceding into an autonomous entity that remains purpose-driven. This stamina is due to a combination of people – founders, benefactors, members, visitors – past and present. Moving away from an exclusionary past, AVA as a public benefit organisation in a democratic South Africa is arguably building towards an idea of common space”.

- Dr. Kim Gurney (Flipside. The Inadvertent Archive: 2024, 86)

As a membership-based organisation, building a community has been an important part of AVA’s mission through the years. As a common space for artists, art lovers and art professionals, AVA Gallery has endeavoured to remain relevant to our members and the wider community by staying connected and making a difference in their professional lives despite the changes that swept across time and space and made the art world almost unrecognisable from what it was 30 years ago.

AVA membership has grown exponentially in the last 3 years, reaching 430 members in August 2026. This response from our community confirms our belief that AVA continues to play an important role in the arts ecosystem of Cape Town and South Africa, offering a unique service to the artists: facilitating access to professional artistic careers and creating a space where contemporary art is accessible to the public.

Bringing back the AVA Members Exhibition is an important step in calling the AVA community together not just through the act of virtual membership but in a very tangible way: on the walls of the AVA Gallery at 35 Church Street, which has been the locus of so many artists’ lives for over 55 years, since even before the current Association for Visual Arts was officially formed as an independent entity. It is also an opportunity to build bridges between different generations of artists, create a space for connection, dialogue and a sense of belonging with something continuous and important: the common space that is AVA.

As part of the 2026 Members Exhibition, we have selected 100 artworks from our current members that showcase both the recent history of AVA’s role in helping launch and support artists’ careers and AVA’s present with works by exciting emerging and independent artists, who are building their creative journeys today.

Please join us in celebrating contemporary art and artists and support us as we endeavour to build this shared space for art by becoming a member here.

Exhibiting Artists:

Aimee Elizabeth Hare · Ala Alhourani · Alexis Schofield · Alison Hector · Alyson Smith · Andrew Mokgatla · Angela Briggs · Anneke Potgieter · Anthony Morrison Cain · Ashley Walters · Benjamin Mitchley · Bonita Alice · Bonolo Kavula · Botlhale Zwakala · Bruce Bowale · Catriona Towriss · Chantal Coetzee · Chantal Masinga · Chas Unwin · Cheryl Traub Adler · Chulumanco Dywili · Clare Menck · Daniel Bradfield · Danielle Vorster · Debbie Field · Elske Henderson · Emily Rice · Emma Wootton · Ethel Ettie Flax · Fadiel Hermans · Frauke Louw · Gabrielle Guy · Gaelen Pinnock · Gill Allderman · Grady T Zeeman · Holly Birkby · Igshaan Adams · Ilja de la Guerre · Ishmael Chitambire · Jan Ludik · Jill Mary Trappler · Joanne Milne · Josephine Grindrod · Kamyar Bineshtarigh · Karen Stander · Karin Hopkinson · Kathy Robins · Keely Shinners · Kerry Lee Chambers · Khanya Zibaya · Khaya Bobotyana · Kimshay Philander · Kirsty Tinkler · Kristen McClarty · Lamont Khoza · Lara Frances · Laurel Holmes · Leah Dominique Johnson · Leandri Erlank · Lelani Nicolaisen · Lionel Tazvitya Mbayiwa · Lisakhanya Ngqoba · Lisl Barry · Liza Grobler · Madeleine Kooyman van Manen · Madelize van der Merwe · Mandy Shindler · Many Libuta · Mary-Jane Morris · Mathabela Madiela · Max Wolpe · Maxine Fitz-Patrick · Michele Fiona Jane Sandilands · Natasha Norman · Nicola von Bratt · Nirveda Alleck · Norman O’Flynn · Nozuko Madokwe · Olivier Baudry · Oscar Henning · Owethu Mtshali · Paul Birchall · Phillippa Duncan · Pia Truscott · Sera Holland · Siyakholwa Kala · Sonia Martins Mateus · Sophie Peters · Stefanie Eins · Suzanne Leighton · Swain Hoogervorst · Tanja Truscott · Tsediso Joans Mnkhenga · Tusevo Landu · Ulric Roberts · Wonder Marthinus · Yasmine Yacoubi · Yazeed Kamaldien · Zaitoon Ebrahim · Zandri Oosthuysen

Ruby Wilson