ARTIST COMMISSION 2025
In the programme’s second year, we centre the question “What makes a studio?” We invited creatives with a sustainability mindset to think collaboratively about what it means to create and maintain spaces dedicated to communal artistic practices.
We asked: what are “favourable conditions” for art making and community building?; and blur the false dichotomy between programming (or project-based work) and institutional maintenance, emphasising the interdependence of these two cultural responsibilities.
The question “What makes a studio?” deepens our ongoing enquiry into site-specific art and place-making. It is underpinned by our recognition of how functional art practices have historically been dismissed within fine art concepts. This project celebrates disappearing and reappearing traditions and the unacknowledged hands that create these pieces and spaces.
Sanele Mlenzana is a Johannesburg-based Industrial designer known for his innovative and adaptable design solutions. As the founder of Mlenzana designs I specialize in modular, sustainable, human-centered and speculative design. With a background in Industrial design from Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), my work explores the intersection of functionality, craftsmanship, and emerging technologies.
Our Team of
Bag Factory
Builders !
Promice Mompati Ngwenya aka Promohpat, has been working as a designer for over a decade now. In the crafting and Art design industry he found his feet as a set builder for the theatre and Film industry. He later built my own workshop to expand, experiment and craft his ideas that could tell a story through objects of wood, plastic and fabric/textile. He spends most of his days putting together ideas and in his workshop getting creative.
Natasha Bezuidenhout (b. 1991, East London, South Africa) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice investigates healing, identity, memory, nostalgia, and emotional wounding associated with childhood traumatic experiences within both factual and fictional places. She holds a BTech in Fine Art (cum laude) from Walter Sisulu University, a BA Honours in Art History (2016), and an MFA with distinction from Rhodes University (2019). She is also an alumna of the Arts of Africa and the Global Souths research programme and earned an Advanced Diploma in Technical and Vocational Teaching (cum laude) from Nelson Mandela University in 2023. Her work has been selected for major competitions, including the Absa L’Atelier and Sasol New Signatures (Top 100, 2018). In 2020, she presented an installation for the 4th Kampala Biennale (Uganda). Recent exhibitions include the Bag Factory’s Summer Salon (Johannesburg) and An Act of Faith at Spier Wine Farm (Stellenbosch). Her installation Om brood te breek met 293 kms (2021) was acquired by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum.
Tony Mpofu is a dynamic artist celebrated for his creativity, mentorship, and community-driven collaborations. His journey gained momentum with the 2019 Basha Uhuru Creative Uprising, followed by notable engagements such as the 2021 Levi’s Young Tailor Workshop and 2022 Lories Awards: Touch Mentorship Programme.
In 2023, Tony collaborated with Siyabonga Vilakazi for the Meta Foundation Open Studios and showcased his work in the Art Start Group Exhibition, returning for its 2nd edition in 2024. Known for his innovative approach and dedication to nurturing talent, Tony continues to inspire through his evolving artistry.
Nsika Mhlongo is an artist who works on depicting the metamorphosis of her own being. She works in a very spontaneous but also premeditative way. She doesn't over think her material choices but can often be found using traditional canvas, paper, acrylic and charcoal as well as found materials. Most often her work can take on a stylistic approach and a realistic view on human anatomy. She works often observing herself in the mirror or reflecting through the images of who she is in my thoughts. After having dealt with rejection and isolation, she felt disassociated with people to the point where she couldn’t have engagements with strangers due to overwhelming anxiety. Her work focuses on self and how the world impacts her and how she reacts to the world. She hope to engage others in a conversation of who we are as individuals through her own self-introspection.
Do you want to be a part of our 2026 programme?
Sign up for our mailing list to stay updated with Bag Factory events, open calls, workshops and other opportunities
For more information on the programme and media-related enquiries, please contact:
Bag Factory Communications Department:
nqobile natasia (they/them):
Office: +27(0)11 834 9181
Email: communications@bagfactoryart.org.za
Insta: @bagfactoryart || FB: @bagfactoryartists