This December, Cape Town, South Africa, becomes the newest stage for Emotions of the Sun, Veuve Clicquot’s acclaimed photographic exhibition, in collaboration with the legendary Magnum Photos agency. Opening at Youngblood Gallery on Bree Street from 4 to 21 December 2025, the exhibition unites forty extraordinary works by eight celebrated Magnum photographers, who have come together in a dialogue with light.
For over 250 years, Veuve Clicquot has shared its solaire culture with the world. “The Sun is our ultimate muse,” says Thomas Mulliez, President of Veuve Clicquot. “It’s a source of warmth and creativity, deeply intertwined with our philosophy. Cape Town, with its radiant light and vibrant creative community, embodies this spirit perfectly. It feels only natural for Emotions of the Sun to find a home here, a city that lives and breathes the optimism and artistry we celebrate.”
Following showcases in Milan and New York, the exhibition arrives in South Africa for the first time, a fitting destination for a project born from the sun’s power. Few places mirror Veuve Clicquot’s solaire spirit as vividly as Cape Town – a city framed by ocean and mountain, rich in creative energy and global recognition as one of the world’s great cultural capitals. Set within Bree Street, a hub of local creativity, Emotions of the Sun finds a home among some of the city’s most exciting voices in art, design and fashion.
At its heart, photography is a dialogue with light. For Emotions of the Sun, each Magnum photographer received a creative carte blanche to explore the sun’s myriad expressions. The result is a series of images that capture the sun’s many facets: as a force of life, a spark for play, a source of connection across cultures and a radiant expression of Veuve Clicquot’s joie de vivre. Together, the photographs form a mosaic of perspectives spanning five continents, acting as a bridge between cultures. The celebrated photographers include Steve McCurry, Cristina de Middel, Trent Parke, Alex Webb, Nanna Heitmann, Olivia Arthur, Newsha Tavakolian, and South Africa’s own Lindokuhle Sobekwa.
All imagery courtesy of Veuve Clicquot
“Being part of this collective of Magnum photographers has been humbling and transformative,” shares local photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa. “To have my work exhibited alongside such diverse global perspectives has given me visibility on a new stage. More importantly, it’s reminded me how emotion and light connect us all, wherever we are in world.”
From the wistfulness of summer’s final days to moments of playfulness and adventure that the sun fosters, the collection reflects stories that resonate with us all. Steve McCurry captures Mount Fuji and the Sun over a single day, evoking humanity’s harmony with nature. Cristina de Middel transforms Salvador de Bahia into a theatre of light, celebrating joy, freedom and abundance. Trent Parke merges sun and ocean in Adelaide, Australia, creating monumental, meditative images brimming with vitality. Alex Webb draws on Oaxaca’s architecture and culture in Mexico to craft Solaire-infused, multi-layered compositions rich with emotion. Nanna Heitmann photographs Spain’s Bardenas Reales, using light and colour to convey connection and contemplation. Olivia Arthur celebrates the poetry of summer’s last days in rural France, while Newsha Tavakolian presents the sun in Iran as a symbol of hope, empowerment and inner light. Lindokuhle Sobekwa’s images, captured across South Africa’s landscapes, bring the exhibition full circle: a homecoming that honours local storytelling and the country’s rich photographic heritage. His lens celebrates how the South African Sun, both generous and golden, connects people, memory and place. Together, these photographs form a global tapestry, revealing the Sun’s emotional, cultural and universal power.
Beyond the photographic body of work, Emotions of the Sun invites visitors into a fully immersive solaire experience. At the Sun on Your Plate Café, local culinary talent Seth Shezi presents a menu inspired by the sun, perfectly paired with Veuve Clicquot’s sunny cuvées. The journey continues at the gifting boutique, where personalisation allows guests to create bespoke Veuve Clicquot collectables, from the Clicquot Arrow and Ice Jacket to limited-edition summer accessories.
Tickets to the Emotions of the Sun exhibition are priced at R200 via howler.co.za, which includes a glass of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label as well as access to the immersive exhibition, Sun on Your Plate Café and gifting boutique.
Location: Youngblood Gallery, 70 Bree Street, Cape Town
Opening times: Monday to Sunday, 10am – 6pm
All imagery courtesy of Veuve Clicquot
ABOUT VEUVE CLICQUOT
Founded in Reims in 1772, the house of Veuve Clicquot remains faithful to its motto: “Only one quality, the finest.” In 1805, Madame Clicquot took the helm and became one of the first businesswomen of modern times. An inveterate optimist, she soon became known as “la grande dame de la Champagne.” Her free spirit, audacity, and desire to innovate have inspired the House ever since, as it continues to make its mark all over the world. Despite the difficulties she encountered, she looked to the future with confidence and won the almost impossible wager, for a woman of her time, of revolutionising the champagne industry.
Madame Clicquot created the first riddling table (an invention still used today for the essential, precise turning of each bottle), the first vintage champagne, and the first known blended pink champagne. Veuve Clicquot’s iconic wine, Brut Carte Jaune, is synonymous with expertise developed over more than two centuries as the centrepiece of the House’s exceptional heritage. The colour yellow, a feature of the House labels since 1877, is an ode to joy and optimism, the rising sun, and the expression of a core conviction at Veuve Clicquot: that each day brings the promise of new possibilities to build the brightest of futures.
Please drink responsibly
@veuveclicquot
ABOUT MAGNUM PHOTOS
In 1947, following the aftermath of the Second World War, four pioneering photographers founded a now legendary alliance. Combining an extraordinary range of individual styles into one powerful collaboration, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, George Rodger and David Seymour “Chim” started, over a celebratory bottle of champagne, the most important artists’ cooperative ever created: the Magnum Photos agency. The choice of the agency’s name is said to reflect Robert Capa’s love of champagne as well as his ambitions concerning the grandeur of his project.
Today, Magnum represents some of the world’s most renowned photographers, maintaining its founding ideals and idiosyncratic mix of journalist, artist and storyteller. The cooperative owes its pre-eminence in part to the ability of its photographers to encompass and navigate the points between photography as art object and photography as documentary evidence.
@magnumphotos
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