Smiso Cele opened his solo exhibition Ngiyiboneleni? at the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios on 13 November 2025, marking the outcome of his residency as the 2025 Cassirer Welz Award recipient.
The award, now in its fifteenth year, supports early-career visual artists through a residency and a solo presentation. Established in honour of Reinhold Cassirer and later Stephan Welz, it is supported by Strauss & Co and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS).
Ngiyiboneleni? extends Cele’s ongoing exploration of Johannesburg’s layered histories. His work centres the shovel as a recurring object, drawing on memories of childhood spaces where gardening tools were stored. From this starting point, he examines the shaping of South African cities through migration, forced removals and urban planning, as well as the environmental questions linked to these histories.
The exhibition remains on view until late January 2026. Read more about Ngiyiboneleni? here.
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