Artists

Xhanti Zwelendaba and Benjamin Stanwix are both multi-disciplinary artists who attended the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art together in the mid-2010s. They have collaborated on a series of artworks that involve printing images of different landscapes on traditional Xhosa straw mats called ikhukho. These works centre on their own experiences with and understanding of the legacies of colonialism and apartheid. They are also commentaries on identity and meaning-making in the current climate.

Zwelendaba, who was born in 1992, works in various art forms such as sculpting, printmaking, installation, performance art, and video art. Following his studies at Michaelis, he received an MFA from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2022. In the same year, he held a three-month residency at the Leipzig International Art Programme in Germany. In 2023, Zwelendaba participated in the Investec Cape Town Art Fair and RMB L'atitudes Art Fair.

Stanwix was born in 1986 in Durban. He works in drawing, printmaking, photography, tapestry, text, and sculpture. Before attending Michaelis, he received an MA in History at Oxford University. Stanwix has exhibited both locally and internationally and has received residences at BoxoPROJECTS in Joshua Tree, California, and at Arteles Creative Center in Finland. The artist lives and works in Cape Town.