Southern Guild Cape Town presents concurrent solo exhibitions by two of Africa’s leading ceramic artists: ‘iNgqweji’ by Andile Dyalvane and ‘Dumalitshona’ by Madoda Fani, running from 22 November 2025 to 5 February 2026.

Dyalvane has exhibited widely across the globe and has work in the collections of prestigious institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum and Vitra Design Museum. This is his fourth solo exhibition with Southern Guild. 

Fani’s distinctive, smoke-fired ceramics are in the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Princeton University Art Museum and the LOEWE Foundation, among others. He was a featured artist at the 2024 Indian Ocean Craft Triennial in Western Australia and has held two previous solos with the gallery.

Andile Dyalvane, ‘iNgqweji’ Series, ‘Undlwana I’ (Small Ant Nest), 2023, Cr. Hayden Phipps & Southern Guild

Andile Dyalvane: iNgqweji 

iNgqweji (“bird’s nest” in isiXhosa) comprises standing and suspended sculptures in glazed earthenware, glass and copper. Five years in the making, the exhibition expands Dyalvane’s practice into immersive sculptural installations that explore spiritual ecology, indigenous knowledge systems, and humanity’s connection to the natural world.

Conceived as a series of environments inspired by deserts, forests and caves, iNgqweji teems with biomorphic forms and vivid materials, incorporating light and sound in collaboration with composer Dr Nkosenathi Koela, glassblower David Reade, and blacksmith Conrad Hicks.

The exhibition draws inspiration from Dyalvane’s pilgrimage to honour Zulu Sanusi Credo Mutwa, whose teachings illuminate ancestral cosmologies. The artist’s journey through the Karoo landscape mirrored the communal structure of the weaver birds’ colossal nests—symbols of unity, design and shared vision.

Dyalvane’s sculptures embody these principles, rising from rounded bases into twisting, organic forms adorned with copper and glass. Many integrate sound compositions inspired by birdsong, reinforcing the artist’s belief in the spiritual resonance between nature, music and healing.

iNgqweji represents what Mutwa termed “the mother mind”: a non-linear, empathetic consciousness that values interconnection and renewal. Through this body of work, Dyalvane reaffirms art as a conduit for reverence and restoration.

Madoda Fani, ‘Jongilanga’ (Sunflower), 2025, Cr.Lea Crafford & Southern Guild

Madoda Fani: Dumalitshona

In Dumalitshona (“beyond matter”), Madoda Fani continues his evolution of traditional Nguni pottery into sculptural form, fusing earthly gravitas with spiritual elevation. The title derives from the artist’s ‘isibongo’ (praise name), bestowed by his elders in recognition of his achievements.

Fani hand-builds his smoke-fired works intuitively, guided by the clay’s rhythm. The resulting forms—organic yet precise, grounded yet ethereal—embody the meditative conversation between maker and material.

His works, with their dark, unglazed exteriors, oscillate between stillness and movement, evoking both natural and otherworldly presences. Influenced by Samurai armour, insect anatomy, and the biomechanical aesthetics of H.R. Giger, Fani’s vessels exude a quiet strength and sculptural elegance.

Highlights include Ntaba zoLundi (“mountain of abundance”), whose dynamic silhouette captures Fani’s command of form and spirit. With Dumalitshona, the artist reaches a new pinnacle of mastery—one rooted in patience, rhythm, and surrender to the transformative power of fire.

Exhibition dates: 22 November 2025 – 5 February 2026
Venue: Southern Guild, Cape Town

Press release courtesy of Southern Guild

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Follow CEC on Instagram