Making Space’ for more art appreciation: Nando’s Creative Exchange moves to AVA Gallery
**Kicking off 2026, the 2025 edition of Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) titled, Making Space, enters its second Cape Town showing and public programme at the Association for Visual Arts (AVA) Gallery from 29 January to 26 February 2026.**
Making Space features bodies of work by four South African artists: Fleur de Bondt (Johannesburg), Debbie Field (Cape Town), Sello Letswalo (Johannesburg) and Mduduzi Twala (Soweto). Each responds to the theme of ‘Making Space’ through distinctive practices. Under the guidance of conceptual artist and educator Emma Willemse, these artists have explored physical, emotional and conceptual territory, producing works that are intimate, experimental and deeply personal.
With its long-standing commitment to artistic development and community engagement, AVA offers a fitting venue for the next stage of NCX. The move continues Nando’s and Spier Arts Trust’s shared mission to build sustainable creative careers by providing artists with an opportunity to work with a gallery that will expand audience reach and deepen public engagement with Southern African art.
Launched in 2011, NCX celebrates emerging and mid-career artists who demonstrate exceptional ability. Sponsored by Nando’s and administered by Spier Arts Trust, the programme offers artists a year of dedicated support: mentorship from established practitioners, access to materials, opportunities to collaborate with makers from HUB Studios, and professional exhibition platforms that extend visibility and market readiness. The NCX exhibition at AVA is one such opportunity, coinciding with the Investec Cape Town Art Fair.
‘Making Space is a celebration of the freedom to create, the generosity of mentorship and the collaborative spirit that emerges when artists are given the time, space and support to explore their practices fully,’ says Spier Arts Trust (SAT) CEO Mirna Wessels.
The AVA Gallery is located at 35 Church Street in Cape Town. For more information visit: ava.co.za
Spier Arts Trust information can be found within the HUB site:houseunionblock.co.za
Alexis Knipe
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