In celebrating and championing the richness of the talent, projects and people that embody the creativity and resilience of South Africa, The V&A Waterfront developed the Artist Alliance incubator programme aimed at co-creating spaces and opportunities for young artists to freely explore their artist perspective. This will be done through guidance, knowledge-sharing and mentor support to assist artist turn talent into marketable skills and sustainable careers.

Initially, ten people were going to be selected as part of the first cohort but after receiving an overwhelming number of applications of an excellent standard, the judges decided to settle on 12 creatives instead. The 12 creatives were chosen from fields such as fine art, photography and filmmaking, fashion, illustration, and Design to take part in a two-month training programme.

Tinyiko Mageza, the V&A Waterfront’s marketing executive says, ‘The vision is to provide a new platform for young artists, creators and creatives to find community, share insight and get support. We have reached an important milestone in the Artist Alliance journey and want to thank all those who expressed an interest in being part of the initiative. The fantastic response to our call for entries confirms the importance of this programme and we can’t wait to work with the selected artists as they reach new heights in their creative pursuits’

Artist Alliance aims to support creative self-starters to get their careers off the ground with the right mix of practical advice and industry knowledge. The programme will not only teach business skills but also give the selected cohort access to mentorship opportunities from seven leading creative industry experts: multidisciplinary artist Atang Thsikare; Celeste Arendse, designer and founder of clothing label SELFI; artist duo Mrs + Mr Luke (Al Luke and Faatimah Mohamed-Luke); photographer Earl Abrahams; street artist Nardstar*; and senior curator and head of curatorial affairs at Zeitz MOCAA Storm Janse van Rensburg.

Meet the artists…

 Richard Average

Nkhuwemi Kumwenda

Mbali Manzini

Zilungile Hanise

Owethu Bobotyane

Kholosani Somhlahlo

Mikhailia Vera Martha Petersen

Simthembile Twala

Shakes Mbolekwana

Joshua Paulse

Pia Truscott

Thando “Mboma” Phenyane

#LiveArtBeHeard