/ Current Exhibitions

North Gallery

Milton Miltiades
narratives of the unconscious

1 November to 23 November 2024

Main Gallery

Ceramic plates & Mapula pop-up exhibition
23 November to 12 December 2024

Some of the earliest plates ever made were adorned with intricate designs. Both functional and decorative, artists throughout the generations have often used the plate as a canvas for their artistic expression. In this Exhibition of Ceramic Plates we showcase the clay work of artists from across South Africa. Exhibiting the various styles and techniques in pottery, we celebrate the art form in this exciting group exhibition.

About the Mapula embroidery project

The Mapula Embroidery Project is one of the most important community art projects in South Africa, assisting over 140 participating artisans develop artistic skills and creating income to feed and educate their children and improve their lives.

Our aim is to support Winterveld and Hammanskraal women to tap into their own capabilities and to participate in economic activity through income generation that allows them to support their families and communities. Mapula Embroideries provides work and a reliable supplementary income, a minimum level of financial stability, for the artists of the project. We provide entrepreneurial and empowerment opportunities that change both lives and communities.

The struggles and triumphs of the women from the Winterveld have been reflected in many of their embroideries over the years. The project was initiated by the Pretoria Club of Soroptimist International and is now administered through the Mapula Embroidery Trust, a registered non-profit organization in South Africa.

In the past 30 years, the embroiderers have developed an intricate system involving design, production, and development of artistic and business skills. In addition to sales of the embroideries, the project is also supported by donations that help purchase equipment such as sewing machines and assist families of the project members.

The Sisters of Mercy who live and run an education and skills training center in the Winterveld, provide the embroiderers with the use of a workspace free of charge and have been involved with the project from the beginning. From humble beginnings Mapula Embroidery’s work now hangs in museums and private collections worldwide, and is sought after by tourists, conference organizers and both local and overseas buyers.

Gallery Chaton

Adelle van Zyl
Spirit Place

30 November – 12 December 2024

Artist’s statement

In this body of work, I explore our connection to the land, its animals, and the myths that shaped our understanding of both. My inspiration comes from a recent visit to the Kalahari. In that magical place, where the geology of the desert reflects its formation from prehistoric lakes, I witnessed the dichotomies of nature in terms of drought, heat, light, and visibility versus flood, cold, darkness, and concealment. This experience of the desert’s extremes led me to reimagine the concept of landscape.

Having been introduced to the rich symbolism of alchemy by my mentor, Dr. Gwenneth Miller, I imagined seeing these landscapes through the eyes of the alchemist. For these medieval scientist-philosophers, stones contained spirits, minerals held potential panaceas, and animals mirrored the movement of the human soul through higher or lower states of being.

I used abstracted details from previous photographic works and transformed them into reflective waterscapes populated with images of animals and objects. The process of selecting these images was both playful and instinctive. I use collage as a method of transmutation—one that mirrors the alchemical and psychological processes of separatio (separation) and conjunctio (union). In alchemy, this fragmentation and reconstitution create new, altered materials. Similarly, my collages reimagine the elements of the landscape to construct new narratives.

Through this work, I aim to invite viewers into a space where the boundaries between nature and myth dissolve. By reimagining the landscape through the lens of alchemy, I seek to return to a deeper, more symbolic understanding of our relationship with nature and our inner selves.