Welgemeend Art Month returns with major exhibition and bold new pledge fund

30 Jul 2025

Built in 1693 on the upper slopes of Table Valley, Welgemeend is both a heritage site and an active cultural venue. In support of its on-going restoration, Strauss & Co has launched a multi-session online auction, PLEDGE FUND | Building the Future: Welgemeend Restoration Fund, which closes 25 August 2025. The auction enables members of the public to contribute funds toward specific maintenance and upgrade projects.

“The Friends of Welgemeend, in collaboration with the Kilbourn Family and Strauss & Co, have raised funds over several years for the continued upkeep of this landmark building, the Boerneef Art Collection it houses, and the surrounding gardens,” says Bina Genovese, Managing Executive at Strauss & Co. “This year’s fundraising wishlist includes maintenance of the historic Bösendorfer grand piano, restoration of interior woodwork, waterproofing and repainting of the exterior, and upgrades to security systems. Donors will be invited to a special contributors’ event hosted by the Friends of Welgemeend at the end of Art Month.”

A centrepiece of the 2025 programme is the exhibition In en Om Ons / In and Around Us, curated by Frank Kilbourn and Sean O’Toole. Drawing on the Kilbourn Collection, the exhibition explores how artists working after the advent of photography interpret themes of home, play, labour and self. Works in the exhibition span painting, photography, sculpture and ceramics.

Modernist painters on show include Kenneth Bakker, Strat Caldecott, Enslin du Plessis, Alice Elahi, Gwelo Goodman, Wolf Kibel, Maggie Laubser, Francois Krige, George Pemba, J.H. Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto and Maude Sumner. Their work is presented alongside that of contemporary painters Sanell Aggenbach, Jake Aikman, Hugh Byrne, Norman Catherine, Jeanne Gaigher, Georgina Gratrix, Ian Grose, Richard Mudariki, Deborah Poynton and Mawande ka Zenzile, among others. Photographers featured include Paul Alberts, Lien Botha, David Goldblatt, George Hallett, Pieter Hugo, Billy Monk, Lunga Ntila, Jo Ractliffe and Jürgen Schadeberg.

“The exhibition investigates how painters and photographers both converge and diverge in their depictions of the world,” says co-curator Sean O’Toole, a writer and independent curator. “It also includes a focused selection of contemporary ceramics and sculpture that emphasise shared interests in form, time and self.” Artists include Juliet Armstrong, Stephané Conradie, Dominique Edwards, Robert Hodgins, William Kentridge, Warren Maroon and Hylton Nel.”

During Art Month, the 64 works from the Boerneef Collection, usually housed at Welgemeend, will be on view at Strauss & Co’s gallery in Woodstock.