Bag Factory Artists' Studios is pleased to present
When We Gather
... the ordinary becomes extraordinary
This fundraising group exhibition features selected alumni & current artists from three and a half decades of studio practices, awards and project programming. These walls have held them all now, they gather.
Our list of featured artists comprise of some of this country’s most prominent names alongside exciting emerging voices.
This show continues on our year’s celebrations marking 35 years of creating space for and providing opportunities to artists, curators and writers at every stage of their careers.
Bag Factory marks 35 years of making space for artists with a landmark fundraising group exhibition — bringing together selected alumni & current artists from three and a half decades of studio life, community, and creativity.
The exhibition is an act of honouring! Honouring what has been made here, what has been exchanged here, and what continues to reverberate within the structure itself.
The full artist reveal is coming . . .
Exhibition Opening: Thursday, 4th June 2026. 5pm
Exhibition Venue: CIRCA on Jellicoe, Rosebank
(Everard Read Complex)
Exhibition Dates: 4 June – 3 July 2026
More programming to be shared.
Stay tuned.
This project is made possible with the support of the Artists, their representatives and Mark Read
Maungo: Bag Factory Marks 35 Years
Bag Factory is pleased to present Maungo, a group show featuring ten current Bag Factory studio artists and resident lithographic studio, LL Editions, running from 26 February – 10 April 2026. This show launches celebrations to mark 35 years of creating space for and providing development opportunities for artists, curators and writers at every stage of their career in the culturally significant hubs of Fordsburg and Newtown.
Maungo means the fruits of harvest in Setswana. It is in this spirit of cultivation that we remember the Bag Factory legacy from its roots in the Triangle Network and Thupelo Workshops in the 1980s through its founding by South African artist Dr David Koloane, British philanthropist Robert Loder, and South African arts administrator Sandra Burnett in 1991 onwards to the cohort of artists working in the studios today.
Exhibition Opening: Thursday, 26th February 2026.
6 pm – 8 pm
Exhibition Venue: Bag Factory Artists’ Studios
10 Mahlathini Street, Newtown
Exhibition Dates: 26 February – 29 May 2026 (Extended)
More programming to be shared. Stay updated.
“As the Director of this known and beloved institution – and dare I say on behalf of the team I am supported by -it is a great honor and privilege to be part of celebrating Bag Factory’s 35 year milestone. Marking over 3 decades of resilience, Bag Factory through its community, activities, and endeavours to this day continues to manifest the spirit of contemporaneity, experimentation, cross pollination, subversion and collaboration. Bag Factory remains buoyant with energy, unapologetic for its positionality and steeped in the ethos and fervour of our elders!” – Maria Fidel Regueros (2026)
This exhibition is made possible with the support of the National Arts Council
Young/Unframed 2026
Our Artist-Curator pairs have been in studio fervently studying, trialing and fleshing out their practices with the goal of marking their entry into the South African art scape with an unforgettable exhibition. Come see what they find on their individual journeys.
Exhibition Opening:
Thursday, 18th June 2026. 6 pm - 8 pm
Exhibition Venue:
King Kong. 6 Verwey Street, Troyeville
Exhibition Dates:
18 June – 7 July 2026
More programming to be shared.
The Y/U project is made possible with the support of the National Arts Council