Die uitstalling bied ‘n bevredigende blik oor haar oeuvre – van haar vroeë portrette en landskappe uit 1914 tot 1919 toe sy in Engeland en Skotland gereis en in London tekenklasse by die Slade School of Fine Art geneem het. ‘n Handvol skilderye van sipresse langs ‘n meer dateer uit 1920-1921 toe sy in Italië langs die idilliese Garda-meer geskilder het met Arnold Balwé, die seun van haar weldoener Jan Balwé – ’n ervaring wat sy later as “die gelukkigste tyd in haar lewe” beskryf. Haar later dikwels omstrede Ekspressionistiese styl ontwikkel sy in 1922-1924 in Berlyn waar sy met voorste kunstenaars in dié beweging kennis maak.

Haar bekendste werk bly die kleurvolle pastorale skilderye uit die tydperk ná 1924, toe sy na altesaam 10 jaar in Europa, permanent teruggekeer het na SA en op die familieplaas, Oortmanspost, bly. Sy het nooit weer na Europa teruggekeer nie. Daar skilder sy die plaastonele van haar jeug – die diere, werkers, blomme, landerye en berge – en talle ganse en eende – wat sy in haar werk verewig en waarmee sy haar groot liefde vir die Skepping uitbeeld.

Later reis sy verder noord in Suid-Afrika en verskyn daar meer Afrika-figure in haar werk.

Die oudste werk – ’n konvensionele uitbeelding van sonneblomme – dateer uit 1902 toe sy omtrent 16 was – en haar laaste, ’n dalk onvoltooide plaaslandskap, uit 1972-73, kort voor haar dood op 87.

Buiten haar kenmerkende stillewes met blomme en kat, sluit die uitstalling ook ’n tiental uitsonderlike portrette in, veral van vroue en werkers, vir wie sy boeiend en diepsinnig uitbeeld.

Toegang: GRATIS

Tydperk: Junie-Desember 2026, Maandag tot Vrydag 9vm – 4nm, met langer toegang tydens Die Woordfees.

Adres: US Museum in Ryneveldstraat 52, Stellenbosch.

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PROJEKT. OPENS DESIGN STUDIO IN STELLENBOSCH

Projekt., a new interior design studio and showroom, has opened at 5 Ryneveld Street in Stellenbosch. Offering an integrated approach to residential and commercial interiors, the studio guides projects from concept and planning through to sourcing, installation and final styling, all within one collaborative space.

Designed to streamline the creative process, Projekt. allows clients to explore materials and finishes, develop mood boards and work directly with designers under one roof. With a focus on thoughtful layouts, layered interiors and timeless materials, the studio is a fresh addition to Stellenbosch’s evolving design landscape. 

LA PETITE FERME WELCOMES CHEF RICHARD CARSTENS

La Petite Ferme has appointed acclaimed chef Richard Carstens as its new head chef. Richard brings a wealth of fine dining experience and a signature modern French style that is rooted in seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. He joins from Arkeste, where he earned three stars at the 2023 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards, following an award-winning tenure at Tokara Restaurant.

Set above the Franschhoek Valley, La Petite Ferme is one of the Winelands’ most established destinations, known for its blend of hospitality, wine and country cuisine. Carstens’ arrival signals an exciting new chapter, with his first menu set to showcase a refined, ingredient-driven approach, paired with the estate’s wines.

A LANDMARK BOTANICAL ART COLLECTION LAUNCHES

The Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden launched its first permanent art collection, the James & Shirley Sherwood Botanical Art Collection, in May 2026. Housed in the garden’s historic office building, the collection brings together works by leading and emerging South African botanical artists, with a particular focus on rare and threatened species.

Blending art, science and conservation, the initiative aims to deepen public appreciation for the Cape’s rich botanical heritage while raising awareness of the urgent need for preservation.

Developed from the garden’s annual botanical art exhibitions, the collection is closely tied to its conservation work, which includes more than 200 plant species at risk of extinction. Many of these are seldom seen in the wild or lie dormant for parts of the year, making the artworks a lasting record of their form and seasonal beauty. The project also supports the next generation of botanical artists through mentorship and access to rare plant collections.

FJÄLLRÄVEN OPENS IN THE WINELANDS

Swedish outdoor brand Fjällräven has opened its doors in the Winelands, bringing its signature blend of Scandinavian design, durability and sustainability to the region. Best known for its Kånken backpacks and hard-wearing G-1000 jackets, the brand offers a curated range of apparel and gear designed for both outdoor adventure and everyday living.

Rooted in functionality and timeless design, Fjällräven’s collections are made with longevity in mind and are equally suited to tough mountain trails and simple weekend escapes. The new store, located at the Winelands Square shopping centre in Paarl, introduces the brand’s understated aesthetic and practical approach to outdoor living to the Winelands.

The post Winter News & Reviews: Part 1 appeared first on Stellenbosch Visio.

Tussen die bome in die tuin van die Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof op Stellenbosch, net mooi daar waar almal elke dag verbystap, staan ’n beeld van ’n jong meisie, haar arms spontaan na bo gestrek, haar oë toe, asof sy in ’n oomblik van dankbaarheid en vreugde vasgevang is.

Op die klipvoetstuk van die beeld is in handskrif die woord “Dankbaarheidsvreugde” aangebring.

Die verhaal van die beeld gaan terug na ’n Ouma-en-Oupa-Lentetee in 2024 by Bloemhof. Die verhaal van die skepper van die beeld, Pierre Volschenk, gaan nóg verder terug, reeds amper ’n volle eeu.

Op die dag van die Lentetee neem Pierre sy kleindogter Linki-Mari Volschenk, vanjaar ’n matrikulant, aan die hand. Kom, wys my jou skool. Hy verwonder hom aan Bloemhof se versameling kunswerke in die skool se gange, die voorportaal en personeelkamer. Hy raak aan die gesels met die leerkragte en iemand skraap genoeg moed bymekaar om te vra: “Sien oom Pierre nog kans vir ’n beeld, ’n beeld vir Bloemhof se 150ste bestaansjaar?”

Sonder om te huiwer en met emosie in sy stem sê hy, ja, dit sal vir hom ’n voorreg wees.

En op 17 Oktober 2025, op die 2025-matrieks se uitstapdag, is die Bloemhofferbeeld onthul.

Daarby bly dit nie. Pierre skenk ook ’n olieverfskildery wat hy gemaak het van sy vriendin Maggie Laubser tussen sonneblomme uit sy persoonlike versameling aan Bloemhof.

INSIG

Bo teen die hange van die Hottentots-Hollandberge in Gordonsbaai, in die drieverdiepinghuis wat hy self gebou het, gesels ek met Pierre. Met die skilderagtige Valsbaai aan ons voete, vertel hy my van die mense wat sy lewensfilosofie help vorm het.

Ek kan net stil sit en luister na hierdie energieke 99-jarige kunstenaar. Sy woorde en stories het trefkrag en sy argief is vol.

Sy humorsin borrel kort-kort uit. Hy lag as hy terugdink aan baie staaltjies uit sy kleurryke lewe. Dit is asof sy diep insig in die kunsbeginsels deel is van sy daaglikse lewe waarin kosmaak en die versorging van sy ranktamaties en vrugtebome vir hom net so belangrik is soos die skep van kunswerke.

Een van die insigte wat by hom bly vassteek, is die woorde van ’n ander groot kunstenaar, Jean Welz. In 1970 skilder Pierre ’n portret van Jean toe dié met hierdie wyse woorde vorendag kom: “Jy sien nie wat jy sien nie, jy sien wat jy weet. Hoe meer jy weet, hoe meer sien jy.”

Luister jy na Pierre, besef jy hy sien en weet met wysheid en kennis en dat hy dit op sy hele lewe toepas.

Tydens sy sorgelose kinderjare op Leliedal, later Olyfberg, naby Houtbosdorp, nou deel van die ZZ2-boerdery in Limpopo, het Pierre reeds sy gawe vir skeppende werk ontdek. Hy het gekyk hoe die grootmense kleipotte en die kinders kleiosse maak en mettertyd al die kleigate op die plaas leer ken. Modellering van osse is steeds een van sy geliefde temas.

So ook buffels. Daarvan getuig die lewensgroot buffel op Lourensford wat hy onlangs vir Christo Wiese gemaak het.

Pierre se liefde vir die natuur kom ook uit sy kindertyd. Toe hy ná sy plaasskooldae aan die Laerskool Paardedrift vir sy hoërskooljare Polokwane (Pietersburg) toe moes gaan, was skoene dra die ergste straf, maar hy het hom ten volle uitgeleef en aan alles deelgeneem: Voortrekkers, volkspele, die debatsvereniging (waarvan hy voorsitter was), asook atletiek, rugby, tennis, en skyfskiet.

In 1944 studeer hy met ’n lening aan die Normaalkollege in Pretoria en verwerf ’n Onderwysdiploma, gevolg deur ’n BA-graad aan die Universiteit van Pretoria.

Jare van heeltydse en daarna deeltydse studie volg. Hy gee klas in kuns aan hoërskole en kolleges en vorder tot senior kunsinspekteur in die Departement van Kleurlingonderwys. Tydens hierdie vrugbare jare ontdek hy Conrad Theys en help hom groei tot een van ons land se voorste kunstenaars.

Pierre ontwikkel tot ’n veelsydige kunstenaar en opvoeder. In 1972 word hy die eerste Suid-Afrikaner wat ’n doktorsgraad (DPhil) in beeldende kunste aan die Universiteit van Pretoria verwerf met die proefskrif “Kleur as skilderkunstige element in die werk van Gregoire Boonzaier”. Tussen 1974 en 1986 is hy professor en hoof van die Departement Beeldende Kunste aan die Universiteit van Durban-Westville.

Ná sy aftrede in 1986 verhuis hy en sy vrou, Marie, Gordonsbaai toe, waar die 60-jarige Pierre self hul huis bou – ’n pragtige woning, met ’n eie ateljee en genoeg ruimte vir tweelingdogters Marlene en René, laatlam Pierre, hul sewe kleinkinders, en nege agterkleinkinders.

’N KLEIN BEGIN

Pierre se kunsloopbaan het klein begin. In sy jonger dae verkoop hy tydens vakansies by Tshipise sy waterverfwerke van Bosveldtonele met kremetartbome – “effens in die styl van Pierneef” – vir ’n appel en ’n ei. Die eerste werk wat hy van die hand sit, besorg hom ’n volle vyf pond.

Hy raak mettertyd veral bekend vir sy portretstudies, landskap- en straattonele, en Bosveldtemas. Sy liefde vir kleiwerk (en dus beeldhouwerk) kom uit sy kinderjare se speel op die plaas.

Dit is veral Pierre se beeldhouwerk – dink aan die een van Dok Craven – wat hom ná aan die harte van Stellenbossers gebring het. In 1995 is sy bronsbeeld van die legendariese dr. Danie Craven, met sy hond, Bliksem, by Coetzenburg onthul. In ’n Kwela-onderhoud het hy met ’n ondeunde glimlag vertel hoe ’n hond wat saam met sy eienaar by die beeld verbygestap het, gaan vassteek en vir Bliksem geblaf het. Tóé, sê hy, het hy besef hy’t selfs Bliksem se emosie vasgevang.

In ’n 2010-onderhoud met Johan van Wyk, groet die 84-jarige Pierre met dié woorde: “Tyd raak min en daar wag nog baie wat gedoen moet word …” Hy doen daardie woorde gestand en onder die beelde wat hy sedertdien geskep het, is ’n lewensgroot buffel vir die Lynnwood Bridge-kompleks in Pretoria, gemaak toe hy reeds 89 jaar oud was.

Die lys van bekendes van wie hy borsbeelde gemaak het, het bly aangroei en in 2012 voeg hy Chris Barnard (skrywer) en Chris Barnard (hartchirurg) se beelde by dié van ander bekendes soos Anna Neethling-Pohl, Anna M Louw, en Uys Krige.

Op 1 Mei 2026 vier hy sy 100ste verjaardag, en kan hy bevestig hy bly steeds getrou aan sy leuse: “Omskep tyd in waarde”.

Hier, in sy tuisateljee (dis 37 trappe op en af), skilder en doen hy beeldhou-, hout- en metaalwerk. Dis nie al nie.

Op die yslike 4 000m2-erf met sy waterstrome en ’n verskeidenheid plante, diere en voëls haal hy bykans 80kg heuning per jaar uit sy byekorwe. Sy Hobie Cat staan gereed, en kreeftrek doen hy saam met sy seun en vriende. Hy leef voluit en met oorgawe, elke dag.

Soos die onderskrif by die Bloemhofferbeeld lui, getuig sy hele lewe van vreugde en van dankbaarheid. Hy sluit ons gesprek só af: “Ek wil die Here prys solank ek lewe, ek wil psalmsing tot eer van my God solank ek nog daar is.”

The post Pierre Volschenk: “Hoe meer jy weet, hoe meer sien jy” appeared first on Stellenbosch Visio.

Spier Arts Trust (SAT), a non-profit, purpose-driven cultural organisation, was established in 1996 by Dick Enthoven, a visionary, art lover and successful businessman who had purchased Spier Wine Farm three years earlier. His dream for the trust was to “enable the discovery and nurturing of new and exciting talent … and to enrich the local community both culturally and economically”, according to Gilly Hemphill in Artslink (2004).

As an intermediary, SAT contributes to building a market for South African arts by promoting, sharing and celebrating the artistic and cultural heritage of the country and its people.

Mirna Wessels has held the reins of SAT since 2015, when she became chief executive officer, and she works with Tamlin Blake as chief curator. With a team of specialists, they have shaped the programmes and grown the collections of original South African artworks on public display throughout Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch and in Nando’s restaurants around the world.

For more than 20 years, SAT has administered patron art collections that include the Spier Collection (comprising 7000 works, of which 1000 are Creative Blocks) and the Nando’s Collection (32 000 works, of which 21 000 are Creative Blocks).

We talked to Mirna about two of SAT’s initiatives: House Union Block and Spier Creative Block.

How did House Union Block (HUB) come about?

In 2020, Covid brought a pause to business as we know it. During this time, we decided to extend our programmes and client base to beyond our patron network. That’s when House Union Block (HUB) was conceived. It is primarily giving fine artists who are in our network but not signed with galleries an opportunity to exhibit and sell their work. We aim to offer our extensive catalogue of South African contemporary art – diverse in content and price – to interior designers who manage design projects for hotel chains and corporates.

HUB’s services to designers and architects include collaborations between fine artists and professionals working in the interior design and architecture sectors, including site-specific commissions. HUB connects fine artists from our network with skilled artisans from various affiliate HUB studios, including Hammered Rocks Mosaic Studio, Keiskamma Arts Project and Qaqambile Bead Studio, some of which are also based at Union House. These collaborations result in renowned works that have been included in our collections.

What makes Spier Creative Block special and what are its aims?

Spier Creative Block is a wonderful way to support young artists early in their careers. For collectors, Creative Block offers an approachable and affordable way to introduce original contemporary art – and their collections can grow over time. We have also seen some Creative Blocks sold on auction for 12 times the price we charge!

We have a rigorous application process and only consider professional artists who wish to make a career from practising art. Since starting in 2004, we have purchased 38 000 artworks from 433 artists, many of whom are self-taught.

Some artists have participated since the beginning – which means we have bought more than 500 Creative Blocks from a number of artists:

• Boyce Magandela
• Ernest Fulani
• Fikile Mqhayi
• Khayalethu Sineyile
• Lindile Magunya
• Nkoali Nawa
• Sandile Ashabangane Mhlongo
• Selvin November
• Timothy Zantsi
• Velile Soha

We have monthly hand-in days in three main centres across South Africa (Cape Town, Johannesburg and Gqeberha), where invited artists bring in their artworks, having transformed blank ‘blocks’, which we supply (MDF board cut to a specific size).

On a busy hand-in day we see about 85 artists mingle and converse, which means that we’re facilitating community engagement for people who often work in isolation.

Tamlin Blake, as chief curator, critiques the selection that each artist presents, providing constructive feedback on their technical skills, use of materials and their ideas and process. We never tell artists how or what to create, but rather help them to find their authentic voice in a safe environment.

Tamlin picks the best works from that hand-in day and all the artists are paid within 48 hours. This is another special feature of the programme, as it provides artists, especially emerging ones, with a means to continue practising their art at a very vulnerable stage of their careers.

Spier Creative Block is a Spier Wine farm Growing for Good initiative – the purchasing cycle provides regular income, while the reviews enable us to see artists’ consistent output and commitment, so it becomes an entry into our other art-sourcing programmes for the collections.

We sell Creative Block online through HUB’s website.

Collectors can also find us at the annual Latitudes Art Fair in Johannesburg and Solo Studios in Riebeek Valley, and we sell through a number of partners (Spier Wine Farm, AVA Gallery, Sisonke Gallery, Saxon Hotel, GFI Gallery).

TWO SAT ARTISTS

Hanien Conradie

Hanien’s Creative Block journey has been shaped by the unusual demands of the small square surface format. Working with natural pigments, she discovered that her subtle ochre works, which are deeply rooted in landscape, memory and earth, can appear muted when placed alongside brighter, synthetic colours. This insight led her to submit for Creative Block bold black-and-white ink pieces that embrace contrast, simplicity and clarity. Her blocks have become intimate, hand-sized offerings where material and meaning meet, carrying the quiet pulse of place. She hopes collectors feel a sense of stillness and ancient connection when holding one of her works.

The mentorship and community that Hanien has experienced by participating in Creative Block have also profoundly shaped her path. Guidance to focus on one method transformed her practice, leading to the distinctive yellow-and-black works that moved from small blocks to confident large-scale canvases. In a challenging art landscape where slower, process-based practices are often over- shadowed, Creative Block and SAT have been a vital lifeline for Hanien. They’ve offered the environment her subtle work requires, the time to grow her approach and the courage to remain true to a quieter, more contemplative artistic voice.

Hanien currently has a solo show at Spier’s Old Wine Cellar, which runs until 22 February 2026.

Tafadzwa Tega

From his early days studying Fine Art in Harare to sold-out booths at major international fairs, Tafadzwa’s work remains anchored in empathy, lived experience and a fascination with the overlooked rhythms of everyday life. Today he stands as a compelling contem- porary voice, shaped by community, collaboration and an unwaver- ing dedication to his craft.

Tafadzwa’s career has gained remarkable momentum through Creative Block, Nando’s Creative Exchange and international exhi- bition opportunities. His 2022 showcase at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair extended his solo exhibition Zumbani from Milan, which was a vibrant, colour-rich body of work rooted in Zimbabwean heritage and the symbolic healing power of the zumbani herb. The collec- tion sold out, with new audiences from Europe, America and South Africa connecting deeply with his storytelling, bold palette and the personal narratives of his sitters. For Tafadzwa, the greatest reward was as much the chance to engage directly with viewers and share the stories behind his work as the commercial success.

His trajectory continued with his selection for the prestigious 1–54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London, supported by Nando’s UK and SAT. A long-time Creative Block contributor, Tafadzwa credits participation in these programmes (and the mentorship and con- sistency they provided) with helping him build a sustainable artistic career.

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Anton Louw and Nico Hendriksz are the designers behind Kino, an award-winning Cape Town furniture studio known for minimalist, solid wood pieces crafted with precision and care.

School friends and alumni of Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, the pair went on to study industrial design before turning their shared passion for craftsmanship into a studio that celebrates refined form, natural materials and thoughtful detail.

The post The Artists’ Way: Kino Furniture appeared first on Stellenbosch Visio.

As part of the “Louvre-Nouvelle Renaissance” initiative to promote dialogue between art of the past and present, and between different cultures, president-director Laurence des Cars invited South African-born painter Marlene Dumas to create a new work for permanent installation in the museum. This commission makes her the first living female artist to join the lineage of monumental decors by contemporary male predecessors such as Cy Twombly, Anselm Kiefer, Francois Morrelet, and Joseph Kosuth. Since November 2025, Dumas’s nine-panel work, Liaisons, illuminates the vast wall of the Porte des Lions atrium, threshold to the Gallery of the Five Continents, close to the Department of Paintings and the Grande Galerie. The work includes several references to ancient artefacts in the Louvre.

Art is not a mirror. Art is a translation of that which you do not know.

MARLENE DUMAS

In her formal motivation for this prestigious invitation on the Louvre’s official website, Des Cars stresses Marlene Dumas’s “remarkable virtuosity and technique, both free and precise”. Most critics agree that the power of the work lies in the fact that Dumas has invented a unique “way of doing”. This refers to an experimental method conditioning what might be her most vulnerable painterly desire: that she herself be surprised by the result. The essence of the method is play and risk-taking during events of manual and gestural bewitching of ordinary materials. From the swaths left by initial free, gestural applications, often of watery ink washes or diluted paint, guided by lifting and moving the paper or canvas, the artist selects elements that can be exploited, heightened or adjusted to contribute to a formally satisfying composition.

Apart from wiping down, dabbing and smudging, deft brush strokes – wet on wet, or wet on dry – are added to enter the contours and details. Not only are traces of initial lines retained when they have been finally “corrected”, but “incompletion effects” are also carefully cultivated. A Dumas painting or drawing mostly includes, as a calculated part of its composition, those marks that refer to the improvisational process of its realisation. Each painting and drawing bears indexical signs of the artist’s hand movements – a hand that always “shows” itself in its traces, marks revealing loose, open, expressive strokes and other gestures and manipulations. The opposite approach would be one that seeks to hide the hand in a blended, “licked” finish.

Largely because of this physical treatment of the picture surface, the viewer’s initial reaction to a work is visceral: goosebumps appear, the heart accelerates, the gut stirs, but at the same time the mind is arrested by the titles. Ambiguous and suggestive, they direct and inform but also complicate the gaze.

Dumas’s career thus far is a testimony to an unflinching exploration, not only of the art of painting but also of the abysmal complexities of the human condition. The themes are often weighty, but the process is pleasurable; in her own words, “the how always smiles at the what”. Her work puts a spell on the viewer because it arouses the senses, eludes final interpretation, is “real” in its reference, and personable in its tenor. It speaks of a sensibility that is both tender and quirky, satirical and whimsical, compassionate and humorous.

Marlene Dumas makes a difference by differing stoically from herself, and by importing the tension of this inner alterity into her work – an immense gift of courage to the world.

Dismantling the Face

The qualities of Dumas’s art are best exemplified in what one can call her neo-expressionist “facework”, a trajectory of interventions in which she, as one in a long line of artists from about the end of the 19th century, has challenged the conventions of Western portraiture with its ideological investment in the identity and subjectivity of the sitter via painterly conventions of mimetic representation. She has found her own point of entry in this movement by reinvigorating the 17th century Dutch tradition of the so-called “heads” (tronies), paintings that functioned as models in artists’ workshops, depicting expressive emotions on the faces of “types”. At the time, these could be bought cheaply to decorate living rooms, while the more expensive portraits were hung in the bedrooms.

The nine new face paintings of Liaisons, arranged in a loosely staggered formation on the atrium wall, are the latest iteration of the facial series format that Dumas has produced over the years e.g. Het Hooghuys (1990–1991), Black Drawings (1991–1992), Models (1994), Rejects (1994 – ongoing), Jesus – Serene (1994), Blindfolded (2002), and Great Men (2004 – onwards). These series or assemblages often consist of unframed faces, presented in rows or grids. It is a set-up that collectivises as well as individualises the faces, enabling both similarities and variation in the whole. In her face paintings Dumas mostly refrains from working solely from her imagination as it might cause rehearsing preconceived images according to her usual manner of doing.

As a starting point, she therefore in the main uses photographs of people (or of paintings or sculptures), choosing those that offer exploitable expressions. Under her adage “one takes a photograph, one makes a painting”, she ambiguates the face in the photographic version, relying on the unpredictable and only partly controlled effects of her technique to discover and trap micro-expressions as they hover and fade around the eyes and mouth.

Rather than representing individuals, it is the psychological drama of “what happens between them” that concerns the artist in her more portrait-like faces. But the narrative situation between two people, with only one of them present in the face paintings, sometimes “dissolves” into “presence”, and the viewers, with no interpretations to hold on to, are “back in the courtroom”, left to face the work as an irreducible and sovereign artistic object. Subjected to its “interrogation”, they must find their own answers.

How are we to “account to” the enigmatic, intimidating “presences” that make up Liaisons? Are we confronting a jury? May we, considering the title, ask what dangerous, illicit and intimate relations they entertain and with whom? Or do they “liaise” in the sense of communicating as representatives? But with whom?

In an interview with Donatien Grau to coincide with the opening of the exhibition of Liaisons, Dumas remarked that she painted the new work in the shadow of the current genocidal wars, thinking of the people forced to flee from these catastrophes, only to arrive in foreign countries where they are branded as aliens.

From the painter’s self-description, marked by an enduring existentialist sense of alienation in the present era, one might surmise that Liaisons also carries an echo of violent forms of Western colonial expansion, during which many of the artefacts in the Gallery of the Five Continents were “collected”, often appropriated, from premodern societies where they once fulfilled specific ritualistic functions. One could suggest that the artist’s faces in the atrium might “liaise” with these isolated pieces in the museum’s glass cases to form an odd team of alien presences linking social contexts of the past and the present.

Of the nine paintings, two had ancient artefacts as sources: a Philippine carving, source for Ceramic Silence and a North Canadian mask for Vermillion Heat. What they share with the other seven faces is indetermination. The expressions on all these faces leave us baffled; none are clearly identifiable in terms of race or gender; they seem to belong to a new tribe, “a community of those who have nothing in common”, to quote Alphonse Lingis out of context.

They are faces only by the skin of their teeth; in their unmoulded “flat” monumentality they are more like facades. Through their intense colour, they refer to the elements (air, fire, water, and earth), as the painter suggests. One also thinks of the nine Muses of Greek antiquity or of the Egyptian Ennead.

The vibrant tints, sometimes applied in half-transparent, glowing layers, are to a greater or lesser degree “facialised” by cursory renderings of mouths, eyes and noses. Similarities and variations are carefully modulated across the panels; some of the heads, for instance, fit in just below the top edge of the canvas, others are “broken” or “leaking” or seem “flooded by light”. Some of the foreheads seem to extend beyond the edge of the picture plane, suggesting a “head burst” of enlightenment or mystical rapture.

The eyes of some faces peer vaguely from behind stark black holes as from behind masks, the lips of others smile vaguely, while the expressions in most of the more fully rendered pairs of eyes are unfathomable. One rolls her eyes upwards in a swoon, like Saint Teresa in Bernini’s famous sculpture, while another has vertical slit pupils, and has been dubbed Snake Eyes in the subtitle supplied by the artist.

The latter’s face arose purely from the imagination, quite the exception in Dumas’s face painting oeuvre, while the absence of a nose in the face of Split Stone was initially suggested by the broken edge between two tints of apricot colour and only later linked to a memory of ancient, damaged stone sculptures.

The process involving source material could therefore be reversed, as also in Alaha’s Light, where the initial layer of orange paint formed the starting point. The painter’s quest for a suitable image that would facilitate the addition of facial features led to the discovery of an Egyptian royal head from the 11th millennium BC. Painting could precede the source, and more painting could follow.

According to Dumas, art works are like unfaithful lovers and will betray not only their creator but all previous interpreters if a viewer with a more attractive interpretation comes along.

The humour of this remark is self-directed, for it is nobody but the artist herself who has consciously cultivated the ambiguity of the work. It ends up being poly-interpretable to such a degree that endless exegesis and reams of ekphrastic (vividly descriptive) art historical and literary writing will ensue. The wordplay is continued in her self-given nickname, Miss Interpreted. We are often reminded by the artist that the point of the paintings is the paintings as paintings, not their “deeper” meanings. But she also pertinently asks: what is a good painting without a serious subject?

Here it is worth remembering, with Wallace Stevens, that if the subject is a blackbird, there are thirteen ways of looking at it. When we look from a distance, the expressions on these faces intrigue us, but then they call us to come closer and enter into the open fields of colour, inviting us to inspect their “skins”– reminiscent of water over stones, moss on fallen trees, rust, patina, lichen, oil, translucent amber, reflections in glass – so that we lose our orientation on the map of the facial features. In our oscillation between, on the one hand the visages and their “looks”, and on the other hand the lure of their abstractly treated superficies, the painter succeeds in mesmerising us. We cannot tear ourselves away; we step up and we step back and step up again. A dance. The painter has moved us.

Let us give Oscar Wilde the last say: “All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.” V

Acknowledgements: Thank you to Marlene Dumas for wonderful hours of conversation in her Amstelveen studio, and for all the insights, ideas, sources, and materials she generously plied me with, also to Willem ter Velde, who manages the Dumas archive, for his professional support, and to my partner, Henda Strydom, who lovingly accompanied the process of research and writing.

Artist’s quotes: From Sweet Nothings, Uitgeverij De Balie, Amsterdam, 1998, and from her writings on the website marlenedumas.nl.

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Meegan Mitchell is a photographer whose work explores the expressive potential of both digital and analogue imagery.

Inspired by everyday life and people, she instinctively observes and composes moments long before pressing the shutter. For Meegan, photography has become a constant way of seeing.

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Cape Town-based photographer Daniel Naudé is known for his quietly powerful images that explore moments of stillness between humans and animals. His work captures a shared sense of presence and intimate, timeless encounters that blur the line between the specific and the universal.

A Stellenbosch University graduate, Daniel has exhibited internationally and his work has featured in major public and private collections, including the J Paul Getty Museum.

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The gallery presents a curated programme of mixed media, sculpture, painting, photography and culinary installations from both South Africa and Denmark. Its opening exhibition features a solo show by Danish sculptor Josefine Winding, whose work explores themes of heritage and place through her exhibition Roots.

Alongside the gallery, the Petit Pantry Farm Stall offers freshly-baked bread and pastries, farm-grown produce and coffee, complemented by a selection of Scandinavian interior pieces personally sourced by Lonnie. Together, the spaces invite visitors to slow down, engage with art and experience the beauty of farm life in the Winelands.

Villa Verde positions itself as a cultural meeting point, blending Nordic contemporary design with Cape heritage and adding a fresh creative layer to the region’s growing art and lifestyle landscape.

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Stellenbosch Town Hall, silent for classical music in recent years, will open its doors for an evening of tradition and music. The concert will begin with a performance by the Stellenbosch Youth Orchestra, an ensemble of young musicians who represent the next generation of South Africa’s classical talent.

Soprano Marina Erasmus joins the orchestra as guest soloist. Renowned for her velvety tone, refined musical sensibility and a versatile repertoire that spans opera, oratorio and light classical works, she will give voice to highlights such as Mozart’s playful Voi che sapete and Gounod’s enchanting Jewel Song. Marina graduated from Stellenbosch University in 2019 and went on to earn a Master’s degree in vocal studies cum laude from the Royal College of Music in September 2021 before returning to South Africa.

Visit wporchestra.com for more information.

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