WeeklySA_AdminEMERGING: An eight-week residency on the banks of the Vaal River is helping emerging artists develop their work and navigate the business of art…
By WSAM Reporter
For four emerging South African artists, eight weeks on the banks of the Vaal River have offered something often difficult to secure: time, space and support to create, alongside practical guidance on earning a living from their work.
Now, as the 2Roads Foundation’s 2026 Gallery on the Greens Residency enters its final weeks, Mzwanele “Rez Inyanzi” Tshishonga, Thulani Gankca, Mpendulo Nkabinde and Shandre Lummis are preparing to introduce their new work to collectors and the public.
The residency at The Other Road, a boutique farm lodge in Meyerton, concludes on November 22. A Johannesburg exhibition is planned for the week of November 23, culminating in an art auction.
The venue, viewing times and auction arrangements will be announced.
According to the Foundation, the artists retain ownership of their work and receive the proceeds from sales, with a small portion returning to the organisation to sustain the programme.
Beyond providing studios, materials and a stipend, the residency addresses a challenge familiar to many emerging practitioners: turning artistic ability into a sustainable career.
“There aren’t a lot of local residencies,” said Tshishonga. “As an upcoming artist, it’s never just a question of talent but of networking and who’s aware of your work or you as a practitioner.
Weekly workshops and individual mentorship explore gallery relationships, intellectual property, financial literacy, digital presence and working with collectors. Every resident is guaranteed participation in the closing exhibition and auction.
“We wanted to give African artists more than studio space.
We wanted to give them a road: time to create, mentors who have walked the path before them, and the practical knowledge to build lasting careers,” said Kingsley Duba, chairman of the 2Roads Group and founder of the Foundation.
“When their work sells, the reward belongs to them. That is what we stand for.”
The river and its surroundings have become a source of inspiration for some of the residents.
Tshishonga (34), a Gqeberha-born ceramist, researcher and educator, has developed clay sculptures drawing on African folklore and ancestral beliefs about water, spirituality and healing.
Initially following his photographer father into photography, he later turned to ceramics and sculpture during his fine art studies at Wits University, where he recently completed his master’s degree. He is also a co-founder of eMafini Arts.
For Gankca (33) the trees around the Vaal have become a way to reflect on memory, family and the relationship between people and nature.
His new body of work, provisionally titled Wisdom Keepers, considers trees as silent witnesses while honouring the people who preserve wisdom within his own family.
Raised between Thokoza in Gauteng and eNgcobo in the Eastern Cape, Gankca left a career in human resources in 2018 to pursue art. He subsequently trained in printmaking and painting at Artist Proof Studio between 2020 and 2023.
“I believe the lesson I walk away with is that growth can sometimes be slow, but it does not mean it’s not happening,” he said.
Nkabinde, who works between KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg, examines the erasure of indigenous knowledge, particularly through spoken language. Drawing on his grandmother’s oral storytelling, his practice asks how knowledge is valued, preserved and passed between generations.
Lummis explores decolonial thinking through questions of Coloured and Khoi/San identity, bringing personal and collective memories into conversation with historical moments of protest and the workings of power.
The residents were selected through an open call by a panel comprising Lerato Molebatsi, Chris Soal, Lulama Wolf, Angela Dimitrakopoulou Comninos, Nicholas Hlobo and Jessica Denyschen.
Hlobo recently spent individual studio time with each artist, reviewing work in progress and sharing insights from his own practice.
The programme has also taken the residents beyond Meyerton. At the David Krut Workshop at Arts on Main, they were introduced to linocut, woodcut and etching, alongside a hands-on letterpress demonstration. A visit to August House included a conversation with artist Nwabisa Ntlokwana.
A tour of the 2Roads Group’s industrial facilities in Germiston offered another perspective, with several residents identifying connections between their practices and the ceramics, rubber and polyurethane materials used in industrial wear linings.
Meanwhile, the Foundation is building a permanent residency structure at The Other Road, comprising five en-suite bedrooms with studio space to accommodate future cohorts.
The programme, launched in 2025, is also developing international opportunities. In June, work by inaugural residents Sibusiso Molwantwa, Lemé Arends, Alfred Kitsi and Victor Eniola was exhibited at Artium Gallery in Geneva under the title 2ROADS: Global Avenues, Navigating New Horizons.
