Young visual minds Paidamoyo Swaline Mkhonto and Zovuyo Pendu exploring the metaphysical world

Land, memory, self and notions of form at centre of 2026 Young Womxn Studio Bursary exhibition at the Bag Factory October 10-6 November 2026. Featuring the works of Paidamoyo Swaline Mkhonto and Zovuyo Pendu.

Edward Tsumele, Winner of NHC Heritage Journalism Award for 2026
Main Pic: Swaline Mkhonto and Zovuyo Pendu

On October 10, 2026, month, I missed attending the opening of an exhibition linked to the Bag Factory Artist Studios Residency programme, funded by veteran visual artist Sam Nhlengethwa. The residency has been running for quite a while now, offering opportunity to emerging visual voices, who are selected by a panel annually, and get supported to work on their projects duration the residency, running for 12 months.

At the end of their labour of love, the participating artists get an opportunity to exhibit their work through a joint exhibition.

I have on a number of occasions, over several years, attended the exhibitions of the resident artists, and over those years, I have noticed that this residency, is actually one of the few that are afforded to local artists, and which is actually meaningful, in terms of the quality of the resident artists selected and the work the produce during the residency.

Can you then imagine what I felt when I could not make it to this year’s resident artist’s exhibition on the opening day. I was scheduled to attend another event on the same day.

But, then I made sure that I was not going to miss the walkabout by lead by the artists on Saturday, 24 October, 2026. It helped that both artists are confident when talking about their work, and are able to articulate well about their individual work and what they aim at achieving by doing what they do.

It turned out, it was a good idea that I went there, even arriving as early as 11am, when the walkabout was in fact, starting at 11.30am. I did not mind waiting for the 30 minutes before the door opened.

I can tell you right now, if the two artists continue to create the kind of work they have been able to create during this residency on a sustainable basis, they will soon be artists that many a discerning art connossier would want to know about their praxis in future. Pretty soon actually.

They are bold, know what kind of story they want to tell, and they tell the stories beautifully, if a bit in a complex way.

You do not have to look further that these two young visual minds, if you are looking for artists soon to make a huge impression on the visual art scene, especially, if they continue on the trajectory they have taken.

From Zovuyo Pendu’s figurative works, portraits of two women intimately in conversation with each other toPaidamoyo Swaline Mkhonto’s abstract work that is as complex in its message as it is in the material the artists uses to create a narrative. She uses textile, copper and ochre, to express a view that is spiritual, metaphysical and self-introspecting.

Viewing this exhibition which in fact are two exhibitions in one, it becomes clear that the exhibition has been curated, are such that thetwo individual exhibitions look like one exhibition, except that the two are quite distinct, with each the individual artist’s voice unmistakably distinct. The two bodies of work look like they are in communication with each other.

For example, viewing the abstract pieces created by Paidamoyo Swaline Mkhonto, whose message is self-contained, will ultimately lead the viewer to next set their gaze on the body of workcreated by Zovuyo Pendu. Pendu’s body of work comprisestwo sets of two women, seemingly in conversation with each other, but in different circumstances and situations.

However, asPendu explained during the walkabout, these portraits are in fact, one person. They two portraits represent the duality that sometimes exists in one person. In other words, one person tends to exist in two planes, and sometimes, there is tension between these two realities co-exiting in a single individual. They even judge each other.

Mkhonto’s work is striking for its spiritual symbolism, as it is in the use of material to delve deeply into the metaphysical state of a human being, existing in a reality where land is very much part of that existence.

This exhibition is the result of after almost a year in residence at the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, by Mkhonto and Pendu. Therefore,Site Forming: where encounter takes form, is a dual exhibition that opened on Saturday 10 October 2026.

The two young artists are the 2025/2026 recipients of the Young Womxn Studio Bursary award founded and funded by artist and Bag Factory alum Nhlengethwa. The award grants 12 months of studio space to two early career womxn artists.

At the beginning of their residency, Mkhonto mused that “looking within the personal and looking within the external and the physicality of geology […] is going to be quite interesting working in relation to each other.” The exhibition reflects the outcomes of the ongoing encounter between the two artists.

In Site Forming, Mkhonto and Pendu bring their contemplations of physical and metaphysical place into conversation. While they share an interest in the duality of the fixed and fluid states of matter, their interpretations take discrete forms.

For Mkhonto inspiration arises from the seminal novel by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions as well as Makhololo in Eswatini. Notions of dreaming, weather, sight/site and memory are translated into an installation involving her signature printed silks alongside sculpture, video, text and collaborative research. On the other hand, Pendu interrogates how one’s psyche navigates seemingly opposing notions of self. Her large scale paintings take her query beyond the contradictory nature of binary thinking to open up space for new possibilities to emerge.

The artists invite the audience to bear witness to the work as well as to witness how interaction with it acts upon themselves. This reflexivity is core to the experience crafted by Mkhonto and Pendu. 

Form here, is not the concern with fixing what has been encountered but rather, it is the constant state of alteration through encounter.

Collaboration has been central to the exhibition making process both inside and beyond the studio, reflecting one of the key values and benefits of being part of the Bag Factory. While art making can be an isolating experience, an artist community fosters exchange and engagement. Pendu invited Penina Chalumbira’s curatorial eye into her process and Mkhonto deepened her collaboration with her Letsema collective composed of Nthabiseng Mofokeng, Mbako Moemise and Eva Rose London.

Reflecting on what the Young Womxn Studio Bursary award represents, Pendu highlighted the community, saying it “offers mentorship and an environment where there’s a lot of artists who are locally and internationally [based]. So I get a lot of insights that vary from idea to idea. So it also allows me to expand my practice while still remaining grounded in what I do.”

The exhibition Site Forming: where encounter takes form is supported by the National Arts Council. It is from 10 October – 6 November 2026. There are a series of public programmes where the public can get deeper into the exhibition concept and the artists’ process.  Check the event details on the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios social media and mailing list.

.This exhibition is made possible by artist and Bag Factory alum, Sam Nhlengethwa. With the support of the National Arts Council and is running from October 10 -6 November 2026 at Bag Factory Artist Studios.