The Melrose Gallery

05/09/2026

Aza Mansongi was a left-handed girl in Kinshasa made to write with her right hand. School nearly broke her. Drawing gave the line back.
A figure assembles out of cut and layered pattern against an olive ground — printed cloth, a white lace collar, yellow butterflies clustered where the mouth should be. Look for where one shape ends and the next begins, and you won’t find it.
Nothing here resolves. It just circles, quietly.
Under the Veuls of Silence, 2025. Acrylic on canvas.

05/08/2026

When beautiful art finds a beautiful home 🥰

This Kimono pair by Sam Brown, bring to life this Japandi space so perfectly.

18/07/2026

Every Mandela Day, we're reminded: it is in our hands now.
Today, we invite you to spend some of your 67 minutes with us — walking through Madiba: A Life Reflected and reflecting on the values Mandela lived by.
Swipe through for a look inside the exhibition, on show now in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation
The exhibition remains open to the public throughout Mandela Day and for the rest of July.
📍 The Melrose Gallery, Melrose Arch
🗓️ Until 31 July

16/07/2026

This Mandela Month, The Melrose Gallery opens Madiba: A Life Reflected — Art, Memory and the Human Legacy of Nelson Mandela.

Presented in collaboration with the , the exhibition brings works from the Foundation's Archive Repository and Gifts Collection together with pieces from our own collection — portraits, personal tributes, cultural objects and contemporary artworks that reflect on Madiba not only as an icon, but as a deeply human presence.

Contemporary works by Dr Esther Mahlangu, Dr Noria Mabasa, Dr Willie Bester and Clint Strydom sit alongside rare archival material, across three themes: The Man Before the Icon, Gifts of Gratitude, and Shared Values.

📍 10 The High Street, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg
🗓️ Open to the public, 13 – 31 July

03/07/2026

WHERE LIGHT BECOMES THE LANGUAGE: Paul Blomkamp - new and select works 2024–2026

Visit online @ artsy
https://www.artsy.net/show/the-melrose-gallery-where-light-becomes-the-language-paul-blomkamp-new-and-select-works-2024-2026

Seen here for the first time, Where the light becomes the language, brings together new works from the Magaliesberg series 2026 along with the acclaimed Quantum Poems cycle.

Paul Blomkamp is a South African master who transforms invisible energy into luminous, precise paintings inspired by his near-death experience and mastery of the art and practice of stained glass making.

03/06/2026

Congratulations to Clint Strydom Photography on his feature in The Sunday Times for his acclaimed photographic series, Real Heroes.

"They play football for joy, not money.”

At a moment when the world's attention turns to football, Real Heroes reminds us where the heart of the game truly lives.

Through 32 powerful black-and-white photographs, Clint Strydom captures young South Africans playing football on beaches, in rural communities, and across open landscapes where passion, imagination, and determination matter far more than resources.

These are not the stars of packed stadiums or international broadcasts. Yet in their joy,
resilience, and unwavering love for the game, they embody the spirit of football itself.

Currently presented as an online exhibition on The Melrose Gallery website, Real Heroes
offers a moving portrait of community, hope, and belonging through the lens of one of South Africa's most respected photographers.

Read the full Sunday Times article via the link :
https://www.sundaytimes.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2026-05-30-parting-shot-the-real-heroes/

22/05/2026

Memory in Motion is now live for those unable to visit the show in person. Running at Art of Contemporary Africa in San Francisco until 12 July 2026. The exhibition has been extremely well received.
https://themelrosegallery.com/viewing-room/65-memory-in-

La Sentinelle des Marees , 2025 , Le Gardien du Temps Suspendu , 2025 , Memory in the Abyss, 2025 , Raising the Spirit Animal, 2026 , The Aftermath, 2026 , Watcher of the depths, 2025 , FACE ME , 2024 , FREEDOM IN THE RAIN 2026, 2026 , THE...

05/05/2026

I Left Something on the Table for You begins with a simple gesture, to leave, to offer, to remain.

Curated by Nthabiseng Mofokeng, this exhibition approaches inheritance not as something fixed, but as something in motion, shaped through gesture, image, land, and form. The table holds as a site of ritual, memory, and exchange, where histories are carried, altered, and offered forward.

Featuring Falida Nkomo , Masindi Nafisa Mbolekwa .nafisa , Swaline Mkhonto , Silindokuhle Shandu , and Njabulo Hlophe .ab.ul.oh , the exhibition brings together painting, printmaking, collage, and oil pastel, each holding trace, fragment, and presence.

What is left on the table does not settle. It gathers, shifts, and remains in circulation, shaped by those who arrive, and those who leave something of themselves behind.

The Melrose Gallery, 10 The High Street, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg

Opening 16 May