Keiskamma Art Project 2026: New Perspectives
Group Show curated by Michaela Howse
Mezzanine Gallery: 03.12.26 - 14.01.17
“The future can be bright only when experiencing different sides of life; put them together and make them one.”
- Asanda Nxadi (Artist, 3 years with the Keiskamma Art Project)
Keiskamma Art Project (KAP) is a South African collective art practice rooted in Hamburg and neighbouring villages along the Keiskamma River. It was founded in 2000 by the artist and medical doctor, Carol Hofmeyr, as a pursuit in using creativity and imagination to alleviate poverty, empower rural hands and voices, and engage with the local environment and spirituality. The project has since suffered and been shaped by harsh challenges, including the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 2000s, continued food insecurity, and environmental degradation. During this time, works by over 100 artists and artisans have been exhibited nationally and internationally, in both humble and prestigious contexts.
Working for over 25 years, Keiskamma Art Project has developed a distinctive visual language that draws on both local traditions and the broader history of art. Its practice often references and reimagines significant artworks, using the artists’ own visual languages to draw connections and reveal parallels and discrepancies across people, places and times. Through embroidery, beadwork, printmaking and other mixed-media techniques, the artists create works that carry these connections across different forms. Examples include Keiskamma Tapestry (2004) and Keiskamma Guernica (2010).
In this exhibition, the Keiskamma Art Project presents New Perspectives, a body of work speaking to both the observed natural world and the individual artists themselves. Three-dimensional techniques and uncommon views of nature are visibly celebrated, as are the invisible feelings that accompany these works.
The development of this collection began with the question of what is new in how we see outwards. For example, artists looked up into plants, not only down, with a mindfulness of what nature is communicating. We also turned the concept of New Perspectives inward, sparking a dialogue among the artists and embroiderers around mastery of their craft:
“When I look at this plant growing beside the river, I see how it can break and grow again. My life is also like this plant. No matter what I go through, I still have hope” - Nombulelo Paliso (21 years with KAP)
This inward perspective brought attention to the freedom and agency that can come through mastery of a craft. Sanela Maxengana (10 years with KAP) describes the freedom she has in her own creative vision and methods, exclaiming, “...it makes me want to do more work. I am an artist!”
Nombulelo Jack (11 years with KAP), who embroidered with Sanela, continues, “When doing this work, you must first love it and put your heart into it. Success comes from paying attention to details, the 3D effect and the different stitches.”
She continues,
“This work means everything to me because it’s my life. It makes me a powerful woman.”
Through this mastery, the artists find creative freedom and pride in their work, while its impact is also felt materially through their livelihoods. This relationship between creative expression and material livelihood is particularly visible in Zukiswa Zita’s work. Here, the botanical motif is represented in a vision for the future – as florals printed atop the table before two university professors, about to bestow a certificate to Zita’s daughter. The artwork and its title, Impumelelo yendodakazi yam, or “My Daughter’s Success", are an expression of what Zita sees her work as doing for her family and of opportunities she hopes to make possible for her daughter that were not available to her.
The perspective on the power of artmaking presented here by KAP is not only found in the act of making, nor in the act of choosing what to represent. For these artists, power lies in a complex intertwinement of material expression and material livelihood, with the value of their creative labour finding its way into the futures of their children.
New Perspectives features works by artists: Nomonde Mtandana, Siyabonga Maswana, Ndileka Mvubu, Cebo Mvubu, Asanda Nxandi, Sanela Maxengana, Nombulelo Paliso, Koliswa Nxandi, Msindisi Mva, Zukiswa Zita and embroiderers: Nomathamsanqa Mavela, Nomsa Ngcayi, Esethu Makubalo, Queen Peyi, Sinazi Deliwe, Aviwe Zita, Zizipho Mase, Esethu Makubalo, Nombulelo Jack, Zukiswa Sikani, Nobuhle Jack, Nomgcobo Nompunga, Nomfuno Makubalo, Pumza Magoswana, Lulama Magoswana, Nokozola Mapanzi, Nomabhelu Nyongo, Sinazo Deliwe, Thabisa Gusha, Xoliswa Mavela, and Fikiswa Madlingosi.
