Contributors:
Julie Nxadi, Nicholas Hlobo, Kemang Wa Lehulere
Bongani Madondo, Kenneth Montague, Zanele Muholi
Liesl Hartman (Zeitz MOCAA BMW Centre for Art Education)
Conceptualised by: Kim Kandan
Presented by: FNB Art Joburg in collaboration with BMW Group South Africa
Key outcomes and learnings
On 30 August 2025, The BMW Art Generation Vol. III returned to NIROX Sculpture Park with a programme centred on celebration, dialogue, and imagination. Having concluded three successful volumes, the series continues to explore art’s capacity to engage, inspire, and transform.
This year’s theme, “A Tropology Between Image & Imagination”, investigates the space where symbolism, gesture, and form meet. The programme invited artists and cultural thinkers to consider how creative practice can reclaim histories, shape futures, and affirm African presence in all its complexity.
The day opened with Garden Affirmations with Muneyi, encouraging guests to slow down and reflect in conversation with the natural surroundings. Musical performances by Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse and composer Msaki intertwined with the talks, reinforcing the continuity between cultural memory and contemporary innovation.
Image and Imagination talk
Contributors: Julie Nxadi (Moderator), Nicholas Hlobo, Kemang Wa Lehulere
This session explored image-making as a tool for resistance, self-authorship, and future-building. Hlobo and Wa Lehulere reflected on how symbolism and form articulate identity, memory, and cultural mythologies, while Nxadi guided the conversation to consider the role of imagination in shaping contemporary practice.
Key outcomes included:
1. Understand photography’s power to document and reframe: Look for works that capture moments, identities, and narratives in ways that challenge conventional histories.
2. Consider context and intention: Pay attention to the artist’s perspective, methodology, and the social or political framework informing the image.
3. Collect with a view to storytelling: Choose photographs that contribute to a broader dialogue in your collection, reflecting both personal resonance and contemporary cultural significance.
Existing, Performance & Being talk
Contributors: Bongani Madondo (Moderator), Kenneth Montague, Zanele Muholi
Focused on performance and presence, this conversation examined how embodiment, ritual, and gesture intersect with history, grief, and joy. Montague, Muholi, and Montague considered the ways in which performance operates as both testimony and imaginative projection.
Key outcomes included:
1. Engage with the artist’s context: Learn about the histories, experiences, and practices behind the work to deepen your appreciation and stewardship.
2. Value the relational power of art: Think about how pieces in your collection can provoke conversation, reflection, or shared understanding.
3. See collecting as responsibility: Recognise that collecting is also about preserving culture and supporting artists whose voices need amplification.
Children’s Workshop | Zeitz MOCAA BMW Centre for Art Education
Extending accessibility and intergenerational exchange, the BMW Centre for Art Education hosted a workshop for the Kromdraai community, led by Liesl Hartman. The session encouraged hands-on creativity, fostering curiosity, imagination, and dialogue among young participants. The BMW Art Generation welcomed children under ten free of charge, reflecting its commitment to nurturing future generations of artists and audiences.
Integrating Cultural Discourse into Lifestyle
The BMW Art Generation situates art within the broader fabric of life. By combining talks, music, workshops, and natural surroundings, the event demonstrates that culture exists not only in galleries but in the rhythms of everyday experience. Guests are invited to engage intellectually, emotionally, and sensorially, experiencing art as a method of thinking, being, and relating.
NIROX Sculpture Park
NIROX Sculpture Park, with its 30 hectares of cultivated lawns, waterways, and wetlands adjoining the Kkatlhamphi Private Nature Reserve, provides a setting where art and nature coexist. Home to over fifty permanent installations by artists from around the world, NIROX offers an environment that deepens reflection, encourages dialogue, and inspires imagination. The landscape frames the programme as both restorative and generative, allowing participants to step away from the city and into a space of thought, connection, and creativity.
Conclusion
At its core, The BMW Art Generation is a platform for legacy-building, intergenerational exchange, and imaginative inquiry. Through curated talks, immersive experiences, and community engagement, the series continues to shape the future of artistic expression on African soil.