At the luxurious, peony-pink Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, in Cape Town, South Africa, three new exhibits showcasing contemporary African artists take center stage. Spanning decades of South African art and history, each installation serves as a dialogue between past and present, and solidifies Mount Nelson as a premier travel destination and hub for cultural and creative exchange. Visitors to the hotel will be invited to view the artwork on display at Mount Nelson’s gallery space until August, and the installations within the garden and communal spaces of the hotel will stay open until February, 2027.
The Foreign Familiar at Magugu House Cape Town reveals how Western colonial art and artifacts such as clothing, religious objects, and paintings have permanently situated themselves in current South African life, as well as how meanings and cultural conceptions surrounding them have greatly shifted as time has passed. The exhibition showcases the complex relationship between history and contemporaneity, empire and colony. Its sculptural centerpiece, a collaborative work between Magugu and artist Mary Sibande, combines Victorian-era silhouettes with Basotho blanket fabric to create a work centered around transformation and cultural reclamation.
Interior Weather, presented in collaboration with Norval Foundation, explores how color and texture affect and inform atmosphere. The exhibit forgoes a typical gallery setup and is instead displayed in the hotel’s lounges and salons, highlighting the interactions between people, space, art, and mood. Artwork is on view where guests take their tea or coffee, and in leisure spaces outdoors, welcoming patrons to indulge in color and shape as well as experience their function as both singular works and extensions of the environment around them.
Outside, Mount Nelson’s gardens have been transformed into a sculpture park in collaboration with Goodman Gallery and are now featuring work by internationally renowned artists, including William Kentridge, Ghada Amer, and more. Sculptures of flora and fauna are framed by a backdrop of lush green grass and shrubbery, offering a space for guests to stroll and engage in quiet contemplation and reflection.
Photography by Anthea Pokroy.
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