2026 Programming
Latitudes Live & Talks Lounge
This year’s talks programme arrives at a momentous time for South Africa as we prepare to host the G20 – a global gathering that puts the spotlight squarely on our nation's leadership, innovation and influence. In this critical year, Johannesburg becomes more than a host city – it becomes a hub of ideas, exchange and connection. And at the heart of this energy is the creative sector, with the visual arts leading the charge.
RMB Latitudes’ 2025 talks programme embraces this global context, offering a series of dynamic, future-facing conversations that explore how artists, curators, collectors and cultural thinkers are forging new connections across continents and disciplines. Through dialogue, we aim to build bridges – between Africa and the world, tradition and technology, heritage and innovation.
From the rise of digital tools in the African art economy to creative currents flowing from East Asia to the Americas, from bold visions emerging from Nigeria, Ethiopia and Botswana to the nuanced dynamics between Austria, France and South Africa – this year’s programme celebrates multiplicity, movement and mutual learning.
Whether you’re a collector, curator, creative or cultural strategist, this year's talks programme offers an essential space to listen, learn, debate and connect. As South Africa steps onto the global stage, these conversations remind us that art isn’t just part of the dialogue – it’s often where the dialogue begins.
Join the conversation at the Latitudes Lounge, near the entrance to the Fair.
2026 TALKS
2026 TALKS
ART MEETS ALGORITHM: HOW DIGITALISATION IS DRIVING THE GROWTH OF THE AFRICAN ART ECONOMY Friday | 23rd May 2025 (12:15-13:30)
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African art ecosystems experienced a boom during and after COVID, according to Corrigall & Co's recent report analysing and measuring growth in Cape Town, Joburg, Marrakech, Casablanca, Lagos and Abuja. The digitalisation of the art market largely influenced its expansion in emerging markets. In light of rising trends to reverse globalisation and the current economic uncertainty, it is essential to explore how digital tools can help sustain this growth, support new art businesses and artists, and encourage art collecting.
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Latitudes Lounge, near the entrance to the RMB Latitudes Art Fair
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A short presentation by Mary Corrigall followed by a panel with:
Gail Bosch, iTOO Artinsure Product Head;
Denzo Nyathi, Head of Sales at Latitudes;
Msimeki Nkatingi, Managing Director of WOOSH and BASA Board Member
Christina Fortune, Curator at EBONY/CURATED
EAST WIND, WEST WIND: CREATIVE CURRENTS FROM KOREA TO CHINA AND THE USA Friday | 23rd May 2025 (14:00-15:30)
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This session explores international cultural engagement with Africa, featuring Jung Won Sung (Korean Cultural Centre) on South Korea’s cultural diplomacy, Noxolo Bhengu (Ndawo Afrika) on China-Africa creative ties, and Michelle Constant (American Chamber of Commerce) on U.S. cultural relations. The discussion will highlight practical avenues for collaboration, exchange, and support for African creatives.
Moderated by: Refiloe Mpakanyane
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Latitudes Lounge, near the entrance to the RMB Latitudes Art Fair
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Jung Won Sung, Artist, Art Educator & Guest of the Korean Cultural Centre
Noxolo Bhengu, Founder of Ndawo Africa
Michelle Constant, CEO of American Chamber of Commerce
Moderator: Refiloe Mpakanyane
AFRICA IN FOCUS: CREATIVE VISIONS FROM NIGERIA, ETHIOPIA AND BOTSWANA Saturday | 24th May 2025 (11:30-12:30)
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This session brings together Moni Aisida (Guest Artist Space, Yinka Shonibare Foundation), Lerato Motshwarakgole (Ora Loapi), and Frehiwot Demissie (The Space Ethiopia) to explore how Africa-based cultural organisations are shaping the continent’s creative future. The conversation will reflect on sustainability, collaboration, and the evolving role of art spaces in fostering international exchange and artistic growth.
Moderated by: Refiloe Mpakanyane
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Latitudes Lounge, near the entrance to the RMB Latitudes Art Fair
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Moni Aisida, Executive Director of the Guest Artist Space (GAS) Foundation by Yinka Shonibare
Lerato Motshwarakgole, Founder or Ora Loapi
Frehiwot Demissie, Founder of The Space Ethiopia
Moderator: Refiloe Mpakanyane
CULTURAL BRIDGES: NAVIGATING GLOBAL EXCHANGE THROUGH ART Saturday | 24th May 2025 (14:00-15:00)
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In this engaging session, key leaders in cultural diplomacy come together to discuss the vital role of art in shaping global exchange. The conversation will delve into strategies for building cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.
With SA’s G20 Presidency presenting a huge opportunity for the African creative economy to blossom, the panel will examine how art can serve as a powerful tool for diplomacy, influence, and fostering cross-border partnerships.
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Latitudes Lounge, near the entrance to the RMB Latitudes Art Fair
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Moderator: Collen Dlamini, Founder and Executive Director of Creative Cynergy
CLINK WINE EXPERIENCE Friday-Saturday | 23rd May 2025 (12:30-16:30)
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CLINK stands
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Join CLINK daily at 12:30 and 16:30 for guided wine experiences at the CLINK stands.
Gabrielskloof showcases its bold and experimental Project Series, including Amphora Sauvignon Blanc, Wholebunch Syrah and Madam Lucy Bubbles, crafted on extreme terrain with minimal intervention.
Carinus Family Vineyards presents a Chenin-focused journey, from gateway wines to standout expressions like Rooidraai Chenin and Syrah, all rooted in five generations of winemaking tradition and unique South African soils.
DECODING CROSS-CULTURAL CURRENTS – AUSTRIA, FRANCE & SOUTH AFRICA
Sunday | 25th May 2025 (11:30-12:30)
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Artists and cultural strategists come together in this conversation featuring Marcus Neustetter (Artist, Cultural Activist & Guest of the Austrian Cultural Forum) and Eben Keun (Chief Brand Architect, IQOQO). The dialogue will explore evolving cultural strategies, the power of creative networks, and practical pathways for African artists to engage in meaningful international collaboration.
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Latitudes Lounge, near the entrance to the RMB Latitudes Art Fair
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Marcus Neustetter, Artist, Cultural Activist & Guest of The Austrian Cultural Forum
Eben Keun, Chief Brand Architect at IQOQO
Moderator: Refiloe Mpakanyane
COLLABORATION REVOLUTION: WHERE ART AND DESIGN CONVERGE FOR GLOBAL IMPACT Sunday | 25th May 2025 (14:00-15:00)
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This timely conversation spotlights the global amplification of African creativity through the convergence of art, design, and architecture. Moderated by Margot Molyneux of Design Week South Africa, the panel brings together leading voices across disciplines to share firsthand experiences of collaboration, from interiors and fashion to architecture and art. Together, they’ll explore how these creative intersections are expanding narratives, transforming markets, and elevating African aesthetics on the global stage.
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Latitudes Lounge, near the entrance to the RMB Latitudes Art Fair
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Julia du Plessis, Boogertman - Associate, Boogertman and Partners
Nkuli Nhleko, Business Liaison & Consultant, Everard Read
Richard Andrews, CEO, Zorora
Mbali Mthethwa, Founder & Creative Direct of The Herd Designs
Moderator: Margot Molyneux, Founder Design Week South Africa
WALKABOUTS, SPONSORED BY BASA & PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
FAIR HIGHLIGHTS WALKABOUT Friday | 23rd May 2025 (15:00-16:00)
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Outside the Talks Programme near the entrance to the Fair
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20 PAX
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Join the BASA (Business and Arts South Africa) walkabouts at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair for a unique opportunity to explore contemporary African art in an interactive, guided experience. These walkabouts offer attendees the chance to engage with artists, curators, and cultural experts while gaining deeper insights into the themes and narratives behind the works on display.
BOOK SIGNING WITH TERESA KUTALA FIRMINO Friday | 23rd May 2025 (15:00)
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Everard Read Booth, the Mezzanine, A10
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30 PAX
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Everard Read Gallery is delighted to host a special book signing with Teresa Firmino.
Firmino’s newly published monograph, Owners of the Earth, is a landmark publication that chronicles the artist’s four-part exhibition by the same name.
Spanning 2022–2023, the book is both a visual archive and a scholarly resource, combining striking imagery of Firmino’s paintings, installations, and performances with six critical essays. Through personal and familial histories, Firmino explores collective memory, inherited trauma, and Black womanhood, reclaiming space and voice through a deeply intimate and politically charged lens.
Alongside the book signing, we are proud to present new works from Teresa’s recent residency at the Forster Gallery Studio in Zanzibar. These pieces extend her ongoing inquiries into matriarchy, place, and memory, while reflecting a new visual language shaped by her time on the island.
Born in 1993 in Pomfret, South Africa, Teresa Firmino is a Johannesburg-based multimedia artist working across painting, collage, photography, sculpture, and performance. She holds an MFA from the University of the Witwatersrand and is a co-founder of the Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize Foundation, committed to mentoring emerging African artists. Her work has been exhibited widely, with recent solo shows in Johannesburg, London, and Berlin, and featured in prestigious art fairs and international platforms.
Join us in celebrating one of South Africa’s most powerful contemporary voices.
THE XYLOMANTIS Friday | 23rd May 2025 (16:00-19:00)
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The Manor House
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At the Manor House, guests are invited to approach the Xylomantis, Allen Laing, with any wish, or desired solution for one of their problems. In about 10 minutes, the Xylomantis will create a small wooden sculpture that has the power to fulfil the wish or solve the problem of the guest, and give it to them as a gift.
ARTIST WALKABOUT WITH MICHAEL SELEKANE Friday | 23rd May 2025 (16:00-17:00)
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White River Gallery Booth, The Manor: E5
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20 PAX
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Michael Selekane (b. 1986) brings forward a compelling series that draws from both personal experience and shared cultural memory. Working in silkscreen and oil, Selekane’s visual language reflects the movement and migrations between rural and urban spaces, the complexities of belonging, and the layered emotional terrain of migration and memory. “When you migrate, there are always memories of where you come from,” Selekane says. “So you are always trying to reflect or remember where you’re coming from so you can know where you’re going.” Born in Uitvlught and raised in Mabopane, his work honours both struggle and endurance—charting physical and psychological geographies shaped by resilience. With roots in the Resistance Art tradition and mentorship from key figures such as Michael Mmutle and Lefifi Tladi, Selekane’s new work is bold, richly textured, and deeply human.
Selekane’s work is currently part of numerous collections of note, including Nando's Creative Block, Rand Mutual Assurance, Spier Arts Trust, Ifa Lethu Foundation, Vodacom SA, and Community Investment Holdings. Selekane has been represented by White River Gallery at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair for three consecutive years.
SOUND IMMERSION Friday | 23rd May 2025 (17:30)
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Talks Area
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50 PAX
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Experience 30 minutes of pure auditory indulgence with Bang & Olufsen. This exclusive listening session is designed to tune your senses to the art of sound, in a moment when cutting-edge technology converges with acoustic mastery. Discover how to truly listen for excellence as Bang & Olufsen guides you through the nuances of precision engineering, rich tonal depth, and the emotional impact of flawless audio.
FAIR HIGHLIGHTS WALKABOUT Saturday | 24th May 2025 (11:00-12:00)
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Outside the Talks Programme near the entrance to the Fair
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20 PAX
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Join the BASA (Business and Arts South Africa) walkabouts at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair for a unique opportunity to explore contemporary African art in an interactive, guided experience. These walkabouts offer attendees the chance to engage with artists, curators, and cultural experts while gaining deeper insights into the themes and narratives behind the works on display.
IN CONVERSATION: PETER COHEN & DAVID KRUT ON THE INTERSECTION OF PAINTING, PRINTMAKING, SCULPTURE AND THE FUSION OF CREATIVE TECHNIQUES Saturday | 24th May 2025 (12:00-13:00)
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David Krut Art Booth, The Mezzanine, A8
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20 PAX
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Join us for an engaging and insightful conversation between artist Peter Cohen and publisher David Krut, as they explore the dynamic intersections between the artistic mediums of digital, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. This dialogue will delve into the ways in which Peter Cohen blends traditional disciplines, challenging conventional boundaries, and explore new creative methods.
Peter Cohen, known for his multidisciplinary approach and thoughtful engagement with material and form, brings a unique perspective to the evolving relationship between art forms. His work traverses the physical and conceptual boundaries of digital drawing, painting and sculpture, while integrating the layered processes of printmaking.
David Krut, a long-time advocate for innovative print practices and cross-disciplinary collaboration, will reflect on Cohen’s collaboration at the David Krut Workshop and how his works push the limits of technique and expression. Together, they will unpack how these hybrid practices speak to broader trends in the contemporary art world and the possibilities they open for experimentation and dialogue.
THE XYLOMANTIS Saturday | 24th May 2025 (10:00-13:00)
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The Manor House
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N/A
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At the Manor House, guests are invited to approach the Xylomantis, Allen Laing, with any wish, or desired solution for one of their problems. In about 10 minutes, the Xylomantis will create a small wooden sculpture that has the power to fulfil the wish or solve the problem of the guest, and give it to them as a gift.
INVESTIGATING THE WORKS ON SHOW – KEVIN COLLINS IN CONVERSATION WITH GORDON FROUD Saturday | 24th May 2025 (15:00-16:00)
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Kevin Collins’ Booth, Glass Marquee, C7
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15 PAX
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The exhibition is titled Sixty Characters in Search of an Author, in celebration of Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, which was first performed 100 years ago. This absurdist metatheatrical play explores the relationship between authors, their characters, and the theatre audience. To mark the centenary, the number of characters has been increased accordingly.
The exhibition serves as a reminder to viewers of the ceramics on display, encouraging them to contribute to the stories of each character they encounter. The artist firmly believes that no work of art is complete without the highly individualized interpretation of the viewer.
In a discussion with Gordon Froud, a renowned South African artist and curator whose work has been showcased in hundreds of exhibitions worldwide, the role of the viewer in engaging with the art on display will be explored. Froud has also served as a judge for several national art competitions.
WALKABOUT WITH THANDO SALAMAN Saturday | 24th May 2025 (13:00-14:00)
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BKhz booth, Fairgrounds
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30 PAX
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Thando Salman is a multidisciplinary artist whose work interrogates the contemporary existence of Black youth in South Africa, with a particular focus on young men in Johannesburg. Through painting, mixed media, and symbolic landscapes, Salman explores themes of coming-of-age, vulnerability, and the tension between cultural heritage and modernity.
His practice constructs tender yet mythic portrayals of boyhood and masculinity, capturing intimate moments of introspection, resilience, and transformation. By situating his figures within isolated natural environments—often flanked by poisonous flora—Salman creates striking juxtapositions that evoke the fragility and duality of identity. These visual allegories speak to the complexities of growing up in a world where tradition and progress collide, offering a nuanced narrative of Black adolescence that is both personal and universal.
Salman’s work reimagines the Black male experience not as a monolithic archetype, but as a layered, evolving story—one where solitude and symbolism intertwine to reveal hidden emotional landscapes.
BOOK LAUNCH AND TALK: AFRICAN ART: THE ARAK COLLECTION Saturday | 24th May 2025 (14:00-15:00)
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Exclusive Books and Jonathan Ball Publishers, The Rooftop, A13
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Ashraf Jamal speaks on the considered curation and engaging prose found in African Art: The ARAK Collection, which places African art, and indeed the continent itself, at the centre of the world, and demonstrates why the rest of the globe is beginning to shift its focus toward African artists.
PROGRESSION 2 – THE FASHION RUNWAY AS RITUAL & PROCESS Saturday | 24th May 2025 (16:00)
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Outside the Great Hall, Fairgrounds
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In Progression Two, Onesimo Bam extends the quiet philosophy of ONEIAM into a live, generative performance that blurs the lines between fashion, ritual, and transformation. Drawing from the brand’s foundation in minimalism, introspection, and multidisciplinary collaboration, the piece enacts clothing as a living process—shaped not only by the designer’s hand but through the continuous interaction between body, textile, and time. At the heart of the performance is a weaver at work, symbolising Bam’s dedication to slow craftsmanship and fashion as an evolving archive of memory, gesture, and care. Cocoon-like silhouettes and soft, natural fibres echo the brand’s ongoing dialogue with protection, softness, and the intimate power of self-preservation through design.
Rather than presenting garments as finished products, Progression Two stages them as mutable, co-created forms—malleable in shape, colour, and meaning. Bam resists the extractive tempo of mass fashion in favour of a deeply personal, made-to-order ethic, where each piece is an echo of its wearer’s experience. Through choreography, live making, and the dynamic tension of movement, the performance dissolves fashion’s boundaries—foregrounding it as a space of becoming. In this work, fashion is not static. It is a language of living bodies, evolving identities, and thoughtful resistance to permanence.
VIMBA! pt 2 (Film Screening) Saturday | 24th May 2025 (18:00 - 19:00)
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Latitudes Lounge Home of the RMB Latitudes Talks Programme
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Commissioned by Latitudes Live, and created by SHIBOBO! & FEDE, VIMBA! is a short film that re-stages the theatre of the gallery space, where perception is currency, and performance is everything.
Film Description:
A boozy Street-Surfer is mistaken for a radical conceptual artist. A wealthy art collector yearns for an African vessel to call her own.
Shot Live with hidden cameras at a RMB Latitudes Art Fair, VIMBA! blurs the lines between fiction and documentary.
Written and directed by Monde Gumede
Starring Dorothy Ann Gould as The Buyer Sherldon Marema as The Artist
Sechaba Ramphele as The Good Samaritan Lebo Kekana as The Curator
Executive producers:
Lebo Kekana Lucy MacGarry Roberta Coci Monde Gumede
Producer: Nomtha Dano
Production Manager: Tamara Moeng Cinematographer: Jason Prins
2nd Camera: Alain Kassa 1st AC: Themba Mabaso Art Director: Riaan Prinsloo
Wardrobe stylist: Koa Matlala Sound recordist: Sicelo Radebe
Editor: Shelby Ncube
Editorial House: Strangelove Studios Colourist: Yerlan Yanay
Colour house: The Mill Los Angeles Title Design: Robyn Phillips
Composer: Christof Snyman Final Mix: Chris Laco
Audio producer: Garth Barnes Audio House: Tiger Fight Catering: Imbiza
Special Thanks: Panavision Johannesburg Shepstone Gardens Darian Simon
Zaheer Seedat
Post Modern Studios Claysense
Association for Visual Artists Lizamore & Associates
FAIR HIGHLIGHTS WALKABOUT Sunday | 25th May 2025 (10:00-11:00)
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Outside the Talks Programme near the entrance to the Fair
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20 PAX
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Join the BASA (Business and Arts South Africa) walkabouts at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair for a unique opportunity to explore contemporary African art in an interactive, guided experience. These walkabouts offer attendees the chance to engage with artists, curators, and cultural experts while gaining deeper insights into the themes and narratives behind the works on display.
WHITERIVER GALLERY ARTIST WALKABOUT Sunday | 25th May 2025 (15:30)
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White River Gallery Booth, The Manor: E5
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20 PAX
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Ingrid Uys (b. 1985), has become known for her detailed and layered paintings and drawings depicting birds in flight and exploration of impermanence, now turning her focus beneath the surface. In her new series, Submerged, rendered in oil on canvas and layered painting of oil on acetate, Uys invites viewers into the quiet, shifting world beneath water. Through rippling brushwork and translucent layers of colour, she evokes the fluid beauty and hidden complexity of life below—where light bends, time slows, and inner truths surface. Drawing from her own multifaceted life as a mother and woman, Ingrid uses water as a metaphor for the unseen emotional landscapes we carry—those moments when we feel we must “come up for air” or fight to “keep our heads above water.” Her immersive paintings offer a contemplative space to reflect on identity, resilience, and the quiet strength we hold within.
Uys’s work is currently part of numerous collections of note, including RMB, Kilbourn collection, Amazon and Spier Arts Trust. Uys has been represented at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair by White River Gallery for three consecutive years.
SOUND IMMERSION Sunday | 25th May 2025 (15:30)
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Talks Area
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50 PAX
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Experience 30 minutes of pure auditory indulgence with Bang & Olufsen. This exclusive listening session is designed to tune your senses to the art of sound, in a moment when cutting-edge technology converges with acoustic mastery. Discover how to truly listen for excellence as Bang & Olufsen guides you through the nuances of precision engineering, rich tonal depth, and the emotional impact of flawless audio.
