UPCOMING
Bag Factory presents Izwe noMhlaba, a solo exhibition by Nkabinde Mpendulo, curated by Karabelo Temeki, as part of the 2025 Young/Unframed programme.
In his inaugural solo presentation, Nkabinde uses language as a point of departure to interrogate personal and collective experiences of systemically imposed assimilation to Western Worldviews. An unsettling motor sound produced by decaying metal sculptures, holding convulsing rocks, alongside soil, water, obscured text, and industrial worldmaking, materially convey notions of disturbance, inaccessibility, and intellectual subjugation – revealing the trouble and woe continuously unfolding, as the philosophical and archival endeavours of our home languages die. >>> For More
Exhibition Opening: Saturday, 10th May 2025, 12 pm – 4 pm
Exhibition Walkabout and Discussion: Saturday, 17th May 2025 [More info to come]
Exhibition Closing: Saturday, 31st May 2025
All events to take place at Bag Factory Artists’ Studios
10 Mahlathini Street, Newtown
RECENT
iTi: Ritual Studies – Lomfazi Yindoda, a solo exhibition by Yonela Makoba, curated by Tristan Baia, as part of the 2025 Young/Unframed programme.
Consisting of installation, performance, quilting, and mixed media artworks, Makoba’s first solo exhibition in Johannesburg is also the 6th iteration of their ongoing project iTi: Ritual Studies, a multi-sensory exploration which explores memory, history, loss, the matriarchive, the erotic, and the reconstruction of ancestral knowledge. >>> For More
Exhibition Opening: Saturday, 5th April 2025, 1 pm – 4 pm
Exhibition Walkabout: Saturday, 12th April 2025, 11am – 12 pm
Closing Ceremony: Saturday, 26th April 2025, 11 am – 12 pm,
Number Four, Constitution Hill, 11 Kotze Street, Johannesburg
𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻: 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝟭𝟳:𝟯𝟬 at @berthahouse_ Bioscope. In partnership with the @triangleproject_za
𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻: 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟴 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝟭𝟱:𝟬𝟬 at @thebatcentre Mission Control Room. In partnership with @ethekwinipride & @ubhaqanetwork
𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗴: 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝟭𝟳:𝟯𝟬 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟭𝟴:𝟬𝟬 at @thebioscope at 44 Stanley Avenue
This year’s #FiveFilmsForFreedom programme is LIVE until March 30th!
Attend our watch parties to join the global celebration of LGBTQIA+ storytelling.
Dive into powerful stories of love, courage, secrets and betrayal from across the globe —while standing in solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities fighting for freedom around the world. ⚧
This year’s lineup features incredible storytelling from Indonesia, USA/China, New Zealand, and the UK.
Young/Unframed: 2025 Edition
In its 3rd iteration, the Young/Unframed programme is aimed at supporting experimentation, the creation and showcase of new work. Through the provision of a 3 month residency we invited 3 Artists + 3 Curators to work along side each other towards an exhibition and/or programme of artistic activations.
The project provides a professional environment supporting the various phases that make up the creative process – from creation to presentation. In this effort, 3 cohorts consisting of an Artist (who is to create a new body of work) and a Curator (who is to conceptualise the showcase of the newly created artworks), are paired to work together and present a public programme of events.
Looking to develop your career, gain exposure, and join a vibrant community of creatives?
RECENT
QUEERING THE GA(Y)ZE
15 Feb – 1 March 2025
Bag Factory is pleased to present Queering the Ga(y)ze: A Public Dialogue Series, convened by Nala Xaba and Noma Pakade, in association with the British Council.
Over three Saturdays, discussions will explore various sites of queer cultural expression, namely: The Shelf, The Gallery, and The Streets. By emphasising space and place, we engage the complex intertextuality of queer histories. Each space produces varying levels of accessibility, archival value and visibility. In a society still marked by extreme inequality, the programme asks: How is our visibility site-specific?; How do we celebrate diverse voices while avoiding the entrapments of homo-nationalism and pinkwashing?; What is required for strengthening solidarities across space, time, and artistic media? How do we reclaim our archives?
Art mirrors social life and the situatedness of queer identities. The queer community no longer operates primarily from places of absence and victimisation – but from catalogues of visibility. The challenge becomes how to expand in ways that allow continuities and amplify artistic expression across diverse narratives.
*Discussions will culminate in three watch parties across three cities (The Screen) showcasing selections from the British Council’s annual Five Films for Freedom Festival.
ONGOING
BAG FACTORY LIVING ARCHIVE PROJECT
Bag Factory Artists‘ Studios has a pioneering 33 year history of providing a supportive infrastructure for artists. By combining art making with cultural debate and exhibitions, we create a fertile international environment for experimentation, innovation, and cultural dialogue between creatives in South Africa and the rest of the world.
The Bag Factory Archive Project, in collaboration with Preempt Group, aims to preserve a rich history of past and present artists, including our co-founder Dr David Koloane, Sam Nhlengethwa, Kagiso Patrick Mautloa, Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi, Bongi Dhlomo-Mautloa, as well as Penny Siopis, Tracey Rose, Kendell Geers, Gabi Ngcobo, Lady Skollie, Blessing Ngobeni, and Bronwyn Katz.
As the Bag Factory enters an important period of transition, it is more important than ever to conserve the historic records as a living archive, allowing art historians and researchers to access them for future generations.
The project lists, catalogues and preserves conserve the Bag Factory’s historic records as a living archive, allowing art historians and researchers to access them for future generations.
The project is supported by the National Heritage Council and National Arts Council, Republic of South Africa.
For more information read here
