Contributor: Pulane Kingston (Collectors), Lerato Bereng (Curator, partner Stevenson), Mankebe Seakgoe (Artist), Johannes Phokela (Artist)
On 7 June 2025, BMW Collectors Co. members visited Pulane Tshabalala Kingston for an intimate afternoon on the practice of collecting. Moderated by Lerato Bereng, director at Stevenson, the conversation unfolded between three generation each offering a distinct perspective on the responsibilities and joys of building and sustaining an art ecosystem.
Key outcomes of day’s programme included:
Collect what resonates: Pulane’s earliest acquisitions taught her to trust her own instincts: “Do not walk into a gallery and someone says, this is important, therefore you must buy it. It really has to be what talks to you. And you will find that work.”
Let collecting be about joy as much as redress: Her collection is shaped by political responsibility but not defined by trauma: “I didn’t want it to only be about doom and despair. So underpinning a lot of it needed to be our joyful moments as Black people. I know no more joyful people than Black people. So I wanted that to shine through.”
Don’t see collecting as an asset class: Pulane discouraged transactional motivations: “I don’t think it’s important to build a collection because you see it as an asset class. You need to buy what you’re passionate about, what you like. Be happy to wake up and look at beautiful art.”
Live with the work, even when it is difficult: She described buying Zanele Muholi’s visceral canvas written in menstrual blood: “It was difficult to live with, difficult because of its subject matter. But it needs to be seen because it speaks to events of our time, political and historic, that need to be spoken about and shouldn’t be forgotten.”
Build a collection that sparks dialogue: For Pulane, collecting is inseparable from public life: “Be happy to show your work to other people. Be happy to use your art as a way of generating debate and discussion amongst your peers and your friends.”
See art as an extension of life: Quoting the late curator Koyo Kouoh, Pulane reminded members: “Art is an extension of life.” To collect, then, is to weave art into one’s daily existence—not as ornament, but as testimony, dialogue, and inheritance.
For Pulane, collecting has always been inseparable from responsibility. She explained: “I do feel a deep sense of responsibility as a custodian, not just for works of art, but ultimately, what is this custodianship about? It is about playing my part to preserve our cultural heritage.”
This sense of care is not abstract but specific, rooted in a determination to centre underrepresented artists, especially Black women. As she told members: “What I have been trying to do is to write a narrative that captures some of the key issues of my lifetime in a way that centres underrepresented artists. Women in particular, Black women especially, so that we ensure their visual commentary finds its place in the diverse canon of art history.”
For BMW Young Collectors Co., the day with Pulane Tshabalala Kingston was more than a glimpse into a significant private collection. It was an initiation into a philosophy of collecting that is deeply personal, historically conscious, and socially engaged.
Pulane’s advice distilled into a simple charge: collect with conviction, with care, and with curiosity. As she put it: “Buy what you love, let it have meaning, and let it be art that you can talk to your children about. If you start from a place of beauty and belief, there will always be a story to tell.”