Four Emerging Artists, One Auction, And Every Rand Goes To The Artists

From the banks of the Vaal to the auction floor: four Gallery on the Greens residents prepare to unveil new work, and the proceeds go to the artists

The 2Roads Foundation’s artist-first residency enters its final weeks with mentorship from Nicholas Hlobo, a new permanent residency building at The Other Road, and a public exhibition and Art Auction in late November

Four of South Africa’s most promising emerging artists are completing new bodies of work on the banks of the Vaal River. They will soon put that work before collectors on their own terms. The 2Roads Foundation’s 2026 Gallery on the Greens Residency closes on 22 November with a public exhibition and Art Auction. The works belong to the artists, and the proceeds from sales go directly to them, with only a small fraction returning to the Foundation to sustain the programme.

The residents are ceramist Mzwanele “Rez Inyanzi” Tshishonga, painter and printmaker Thulani Gankca, Mpendulo Nkabinde and Shandre Lummis. They were chosen through an open call by a panel of Lerato Molebatsi, Chris Soal, Lulama Wolf, Angela Dimitrakopoulou Comninos, Nicholas Hlobo and Jessica Denyschen.

A residency built around what emerging artists actually need

“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.”

That gap is the reason the programme exists. Over eight weeks at The Other Road, a boutique farm lodge in Meyerton, the residents receive a stipend, a dedicated studio, materials and curatorial guidance. Weekly workshops and one-on-one mentorship cover the realities of a working practice: the art market, gallery relationships, intellectual property, digital presence, financial literacy, working with collectors and auction readiness. Every selected artist is guaranteed a place 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 Mr Kingsley Duba, Chairman of the 2Roads Group and Founder of the 2Roads Foundation. “When their work sells, the reward belongs to them. That is what we stand for.”

The work

Mzwanele “Rez Inyanzi” Tshishonga (34) is a ceramist, researcher and educator from Gqeberha. He began with photography, following his photographer father, before turning to ceramics and sculpture during his fine art studies at Wits, where he recently completed his master’s degree. At the residency, he has created clay sculptures inspired by the Vaal River and rooted in African folklore and ancestral beliefs about water, spirituality, healing and cultural knowledge. He is co-founder of eMafini Arts.

Thulani Gankca (33) is a self-taught artist, painter and printmaker raised between Thokoza in Gauteng and eNgcobo village in the Eastern Cape. He left a career in human resources in 2018 to follow art, and trained in printmaking and painting at Artist Proof Studio from 2020 to 2023. His new body of work, working title “Wisdom Keepers”, treats the tree species around the Vaal River as silent witnesses to the relationship between people and nature. It also reflects on the wisdom keepers in his own family. “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.

Mpendulo Nkabinde works between KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg. His practice explores the erasure of indigenous knowledge systems, with particular attention to spoken language. Drawing on his grandmother’s oral storytelling, he asks how knowledge is valued, preserved and passed on.

Shandre Lummis explores decolonial thinking through questions of Coloured and Khoi/San identity. Working from lived experience and moments of protest in history, Lummis brings together fragments of personal and collective memory to examine how systems of power are formed, sustained and transformed.

Inside the residency

• Nicholas Hlobo in the studio: in the residency’s latest workshop, the acclaimed artist and selection panellist spent one-on-one time with each resident. He reviewed works in progress and shared insights from his own practice.
• David Krut Workshop, Arts on Main: the residents were introduced to linocut, woodcut and etching, with a hands-on letterpress demonstration.
• August House: a studio visit and conversation with artist Nwabisa Ntlokwana.
• Art meets industry: in an unusual move for an arts programme, the residents toured the 2Roads Group’s industrial facilities in Germiston. Several found connections between ceramics, rubber and polyurethane wear-lining materials and their own practices.

A permanent home for future artists

The 2Roads Foundation is building a permanent residency structure at The Other Road: five en-suite bedrooms with studio space. This makes the farm a lasting home for future cohorts.

From Meyerton to Geneva

The programme has an international dimension. In June 2026, work by the inaugural cohort, Sibusiso Molwantwa, Lemé Arends, Alfred Kitsi and Victor Eniola, was shown at Artium Gallery in Geneva in “2ROADS: Global Avenues, Navigating New Horizons”. The Foundation is working to build on that for future cohorts.

Exhibition and Art Auction

The 2026 residents will present their work in an exhibition in Johannesburg during the week of 23 November 2026, culminating in the Art Auction. The venue, viewing times and auction details will be announced shortly at 2roadsfoundation.org.za.