Nando’s Creative Exchange is an artist career development programme
that creates a mentoring opportunity for participating artists to develop a unique, personal narrative in their work while building the professional-
practice skills vital for an artist’s career development
The 2025 Nando’s Creative Exchange exhibition is now open at Cape Town’s HUB Gallery, featuring four emerging artists: Fleur de Bondt, Debbie Field, Sello Letswalo and Mduduzi Twala.
Launched in 2011, the NCX programme recognises artists who demonstrate exceptional ability. Administered by Spier Arts Trust and sponsored by Nando’s, the initiative provides participants with exhibition opportunities, mentorship, sponsorship of materials, and collaboration with HUB Studios – artisan studios where fine artists collaborate with skilled makers in mosaic and beadwork, to reimagine traditional craft through a contemporary African fine art lens.
Each year, with guidance from established artist mentors, artists are encouraged to develop a cohesive body of work, preparing them for future exhibitions and professional gallery representation.
Presenting a body of work for public exhibition is a vital step in an artist’s professional practice. Through NCX, we see artists grow through exchange with peers and their mentors to not only refine their craft, but also also gain access to networks, validation and visibility that help build sustainable careers, – Mirna Wessels, CEO of Spier Arts Trust
The artists in this programme were refreshengly unique amongst one another, with different areas of expertise, mediums and backgrounds. Johannesburg-based Fleur de Bondt is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans printmaking, collage and painting. She draws inspiration from her inner world and lived experiences, using bold colours and layered shapes to reflect on the human condition.
Beyond her studio, she co-founded experimental artist-run initiative Incognito Arthouse and Fracture Sessions, an initiative supporting connection and growth among artists, and has managed several artist-development programmes.
Based in Cape Town, Debbie Field is a painter and teacher who works primarily in oils and encaustic wax, an ancient painting technique using molten beeswax mixed with pigments. Her practice is rooted in her love of colour, light and mark-making, and transforms her observations of nature into expressive visual puzzles. With decades of teaching and facilitating behind her, Field’s work has been collected both locally and abroad.
Sello Letswalo is a Johannesburg-based multimedia artist working with reclaimed steel, oil paint and found materials. His sculptural paintings reimagine discarded surfaces into totemic explorations of history, dance and spiritual connection. A graduate of Tshwane University of Technology, Letswalo has exhibited widely and won recognition in major South African art competitions.
A Soweto-based painter and sculptor, Mduduzi Twala draws inspiration from old masters and his own evolving perspective. His work investigates themes of growth, persistence and transformation, and he often pushes himself into new and uncomfortable territory. Self-taught, with formative apprenticeships and awards shaping his career, Twala’s practice continues to evolve with fresh energy.
For this edition of NCX, the artists were mentored by Emma Willemse, a conceptual artist, educator and curator whose practice spans sculptural installations, printmaking and artist’s bookmaking. Willemse’s career is rooted in themes of displacement and sense of place, and her works are represented in both local and international collections. She brings decades of experience as a practising artist, teacher and mentor to the NCX programme. By pairing artists with experienced mentors and professional exhibition opportunities, NCX bridges the gap between potential and sustainability. The 2025 edition continues the programme’s mission: to create platforms where Southern African art can be seen, celebrated and collected.
All the details:
Nando’s Creative Exchange 2025 group exhibition
When:
● 6 November 2025 to 20 January 2026: HUB Gallery, Union House, 25
Commercial Street, Cape Town
● 29 January to 26 February 2026: The AVA Gallery, 35 Church Street, Cape Town
