“If These Walls Could Talk, They’d Probably Still Ignore Me” explores how public space is never neutral but a contested arena shaped by power, inequality, and commercialization. Focusing on Johannesburg, the exhibition treats the city’s walls, writers’ benches, and music as active storytellers. It aims to amplify the authentic, often overlooked voices of the streets, presenting Johannesburg not as a passive canvas but as a powerful, dynamic narrator of its own lived reality.
Shooting the Breeze Live
A series of live sketch and talk events featuring legendary members of the pioneering graffiti collective TK (Transit Killers aka Time Keepers): In these one to two hour sessions, we will sketch live while discussing the history, politics, and evolution of street art as seen on Johannesburg's walls.
Featured Artists:
Mzwandile Buthelezi (HacOne) at Goethe Institute
A multidisciplinary artist born in Johannesburg in 1981, Buthelezi is a former student of the Federated Union of Black Artists (FUBA) and a graphic design graduate of the University of Johannesburg. His artistic language produces works that engage in a dynamic dialectic with musical composition, interrogating the intersecting concepts of laboratory thought and identity politics. Central to his practice is an examination of the relationship between free jazz improvisation and the political ideals of liberation and resistance. Buthelezi's works have appeared on numerous contemporary South African and international jazz and literature covers.
Mfundo Mkhize (Mr. Ëksê) at Goethe Institute
A Soweto-born multidisciplinary artist and graffiti pioneer from Orlando West, Mkhize possesses nearly three decades of practice. Formally trained in photography, printmaking, and multimedia arts, he theorises graffiti as "the most democratic art medium" on the basis of its material accessibility to working-class and marginalised populations. His work transforms the toxic landscapes of Johannesburg's mine dumps into vibrant visual prophecies, employing street art as a mode of preserving community memory of both struggle and triumph.
Mambila Mageza (Dice) at Trackside in Soweto
A Soweto-based artist and cultural organiser, Mageza brings over a decade of experience in screen printing, which he deploys simultaneously as an artistic medium and a vehicle for cultural expression. In 2013, he founded Trackside Creative Studios (also known as Trackside Creative), thereby establishing an essential infrastructural hub for artistic production in Soweto.
Curated by: Breeze Yoko
Breeze Yoko is a South African multidisciplinary artist and curator whose work reclaims communal knowledge production from external narratives. A Berlinale Talent Campus alumnus, he has created murals across Africa and Europe—whimsical yet powerful works that reimagine public space. His award-winning films have been recognized at Tricontinental Film Festival, Siena Film Festival, and Dak’Art. As founder and Artistic Director of Ubuhle Bendalo, he builds new platforms for urban contemporary art. He is also the founder and artistic director of the Cape Town Print Fair. Rooted in a practice of restoration rather than intervention, Yoko’s work contributes to a living culture of memory, discussion, and collective imagination across African communities and the diaspora.
