In photos: Artists tell stories of heritage and migration using surprising materials
Matereality V2 opens at the Iziko South African National Gallery on Monday
24 August 2026
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Senzeni Marasela’s artwork on migration and mining labour used a traditional blanket at its centre. It is one of over 100 art works at the Matereality V2 exhibition at Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town. Photos: Brenton Geach
Over 100 installations by 70 emerging and established artists are currently on display as part of the Matereality V2 exhibition at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Gardens, Cape Town.
Challenges traditional ideas of what materials are used to make art, the artists have used a range of materials, including soil, concrete, textiles, glitter, and repurposed consumer objects to create works that tell stories about identity, history, land and ecology.
The exhibition demonstrates how artists can transform every day and industrial materials to engage directly with themes such as identity, history, land, and ecology.
In its second edition, the exhibition is “returning on an unprecedented scale to explore how substance drives meaning in contemporary African art”, according to the programme note. The first iteration in 2020 was cut short by the pandemic.
Matereality V2 opens at Iziko on Monday 21 August and runs until June 2027.
Johannesburg-based artist Bev Butkow used woven and suspended materials to create this piece called For What Holds.The dense layers gradually opening represents how communities and ecosystems are sustained through care, connection and resilience through the ability to change while staying connected.
Cape Town-based artists Dada Khanyisa’s Sund’khotha bhuti(I have my own)uses wood and paint sculptures to reflect on contemporary South African youth culture and how this plays out through relationships, urban spaces and performances to create a sense of belonging.
Exhibition curator Andrea Lewis speaks to patrons about Kamyar Bineshtarigh’s work. He lifted debris from the ground in communities such as Woodstock and used layers of dried glue to create a form of a “photocopy” or imprint of Cape Town’s urban fabric.
Riebeek-West-based artist Tamlin Blake’sTreading lightly – A Cautionary Talewas woven using recycled and hand-spun newspapers sealed with gel. It was inspired by a 16th century tapestry depicting the burning of books. She used the woven newspaper to show how stories are preserved or erased, and the powerful role they play in shaping personal and collective histories.
Nicola Bailey’s The Giftexplores the bond between companions. Inspired by her own dog, she used beeswax for the casts and bronze for the leaves as a metaphor for love.
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