CURRENT EXHIBITION
Bag Factory is pleased to present Ngiyiboneleni? a solo exhibition by Smiso Cele following his completion of the Cassirer Welz Award 2025 residency.
This exhibition is a continuation of an ongoing project, Ebhuqwini (2024). Where he refers to the intimacy of a bedroom he shared with his siblings as a way of building intimacy and acquainting himself with places he finds himself in (Johannesburg).
The title, Ngiyiboneleni?, is a phrase Cele has come to hear primarily through his mother’s use of it to call attention to one’s uncontrollable desire to overuse or overeat something that is not usually around. Embodied by the phrase are ideas around repetition and persistence. In the context of this exhibition, Ngiyiboneleni?, as a phrase, is envisaged through a bread clip as a way of reckoning with the lack of warmth that exists as Cele moves through the world and further away from home. An attempt at questioning and reconciling the constant return to and reliance on objects for soothing memories concerning home. In this exhibition, Cele connects the relativity of the room ebhuqwini, which in its form existed as a storage space, building an intimate relationship between objects, the environment, and the self.
Exhibition Opening: Thursday, 13th November 2025. 18:00 – 20:00
Exhibition Talkabout: Saturday, 22 November 2025
Exhibition Closing: Saturday, 31 January, 2026
10 Mahlathini Street, Newtown
YOUNG WOMXN STUDIO BURSARY 2025/2026
Congratulations and Welcome!
Bag Factory Artists’ Studios is thrilled to announce the 2025/2026 Young Womxn Studio Bursary recipients, Swaline Mkhonto & Zovuyo Pendu.
Congratulations to our bursary recipients as they begin this exciting and transformative journey!
Established in 2019 and proudly supported by Bag Factory founding member and celebrated artist Sam Nhlengethwa, this bursary supports emerging womxn artists under 35 who are shaping the future of contemporary visual art.
Stay tuned for more on their creative explorations
This award is supported by Bag Factory co-founder, and alum; Sam Nhlengethwa
OPEN CALLS
Studios for rent!
- Short-term studio rental (6 month minimum) for Tier 2 Artists
- Long-term studio rental (12 month minimum) for Tier 1 & Tier 2 Artists
For more information click on the application link.
We look forward to reviewing your application.
Self-funded Residencies!
The Bag Factory is currently accepting applications for self-funded & self-directed studio residency to Johannesburg-based artists. If you have been looking for a studio, don’t look any further Bag Factory is the community for you, applications are currently open.
Deadline for applications: 14 December 2025
Shortlisted candidates will be informed by 26th January 2026
Studio occupation begins in February 2026
Studios Address: 10 Mahlathini Street, Newtown
Rental Options:
- 3 months minimum: 1 February -30 April 2026
- 6 months minimum: 1 February – 30 July 2026
VISITING ARTIST: COLOMBIA
Bag Factory is proud to host through its Visiting Artist Residency Programme the Colombian visual artist and performer Piedad Coka.
During her residency, the artist will conduct a series of workshops and gather sonic recordings of the environment she occupies. The activities and interventions will culminate in a participatory performance and a sonic installation.
The aim of the encounters is to map the intangible connections between Nariño, Colombia, and Johannesburg, South Africa, by overlaying their soundscapes, personal testimonies, and collective movement, ultimately creating a living map that challenges geographical and political borders.
The project was made possible with the generous funding by Visual and Plastic Arts Department, Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Knowledges, Republic of Colombia with the support of distributing agency Foundation Arteria
TILGA 2025/26
Buqaqawuli Nobakada has joined the Bag Factory supported by Tilga. Nobakada is the 2025 recipient of the Tilga Art Prize.
She will be provided with a three-month residency at Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, personal mentorship through being in community with Bag Factory founders and those who helped in its legacy making, professional development, a cash prize and membership of a growing supporting community of fellow Tilga Prize Finalists
These three-months will culminate in a workshop led by the finalist in late January 2025, so keep your ear to the ground to attend!
Welcome, Ndalo🪴
ARTIST COMMISSION '25
This year, we centre on the question “What makes a studio?”
We selected 5 x creatives with a sustainability mindset to think collaboratively about what it means to create and maintain spaces dedicated to communal artistic practices.
What do we see as “favourable conditions” for art making and community building?; and blurs the false dichotomy between programming (or project-based work) and institutional maintenance, while emphasising the interdependence of these two cultural responsibilities? The question deepens our ongoing enquiry into site-specific art and place-making.
Follow along and stay updated with their progress!
WHAT'S IN THEIR BAG
We asked our artists if we can give you a peek into their carrying cases, into their toolboxes.👀🧰🎨
‘What’s In Their Bag’ is a new monthly series running on our YouTube Channel that gives you an insight into your favourite Bag Factory artists’ thinkings, experiences and prospects.
Stay tuned for updates on our latest releases by following our social media, signing up for our newsletter or keeping up with our website.
In Episode One, visual artist and scholar, Sharlene Khan (@sharlenefkhan) invited us in to her studio with open arms and an open heart to take a look at what she gets up to in her Bag 💛
PAST EXHIBITIONS
15 Years of the Cassirer Welz Award
Bag Factory is proud to present, a group exhibition celebrating the 15 year milestone
of the Cassirer Welz Award.
For fifteen years, the Cassirer Welz Award funded by Strauss & Co, has been a beacon of support for young career artists, providing them with a transformative residency experiences at the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios.
Trajectories spotlights selected award alumni who have expanded their respective practices, thus celebrating their excellence and creative journeys. The exhibition traces thematic continuities, shifts in artistic voice, and the development of individual and collective visual narratives. The central themes of legacy, transformation and futurity examine how artists have engaged with issues of identity, history, social justice, and material experimentation over the years. >>> For More
Exhibition Opening: Saturday, 30th August 2025, 10 am – 5 pm
Exhibition Walkabout & Talk: Saturday, 20th September 2025, 11 am – 1 pm
Featured Artist Speakers incl, DuduBloom More, Specs Ndimande, Levy Pooe, and Nompumelelo Ngoma
Exhibition Closing: Friday, 26th September 2025
Bag Factory Artists’ Studios
10 Mahlathini Street, Newtown
VISIT BAG FACTORY
Are you a funder, collector, art collective, or organisation curious to peak behind our curtain? Let's help you out with that!
Fill in the form below for a guided walkabout of
Daneel Thumbiran's Brahmacarya
currently on in our gallery space, and/or step into
our artists' studios and engage with them on their praxis.
See you soon!
Looking to develop your career, gain exposure, and join a vibrant community of creatives?
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
