KZN Art Fair
07.08 - 09.08.2026

The inaugural KZN Art Fair is set to take stage in the second weekend of August (7-9). As the team finalises plans to welcome tens of thousands of visitors, we reached out to learn more about the initiative and what audiences can expect. 

Here’s what they had to say. 

Who is behind the KZN Art Fair, and what’s the story of how the team came together?

Angela Shaw (Chief Creative Director) and Lungelo Mkhize (Chief Operations Director) are the co-founders of the KZN Art Fair. Both have long working histories in the arts industry, and their combined skills and experience make a strong partnership. Mkhize had worked towards a new art fair in Durban from 2022 to 2024, which was thwarted by obstacles related to the city and the post Covid-19 economy. Although the Durban Art Fair was shelved, the initiative was extremely well received by the creative sector at the time, and it was clear there was a strong appetite for something like this in the region. When the opportunity to partner with the Hilton Arts Festival arose in 2025, it was an obvious move for Shaw and Mkhize to partner and revisit the initiative.

Lungelo Mkhize

Mkhize was the Shipping Registrar and Art Fair Manager at Stevenson Gallery before founding Section 9, a logistics and art handling business with clients from domestic and international galleries and institutes, artists, and commercial and private collections. His business acumen and training from Atelier 4, Miami in Art Fair Logistics and Administration is invaluable to the management of KZN Art Fair.

Angela Shaw

Shaw has a background in project management, curatorship and exhibition making, and was the Executive Director of the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts (KZNSA) from 2014 – 2025. She has an Honours in Curatorship from the University of Cape Town and a Master’s in Curatorial Public and Visual Practice from the University of Witwatersrand. Her area of research focuses on sustainability in the creative sector.

Together, Mkhize and Shaw’s combined expertise and wealth of knowledge on the KZN creative ecosystem contribute strong logistics, site management, and stakeholder and arts community liaison. They also bring relevant and exciting programming and curatorial direction to the Fair.

KZNSA Exhibitor Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg, Installation View.

The fair is described as ‘KZN Art Fair at Hilton Arts Festival 2026’ – can you explain the connection to the Hilton Arts Festival?

Angela Shaw was approached by the Hilton Arts Festival in early 2025 to consult on bringing HAF’s vision for a professional and sustainable visual art presentation to life. They were interested in how the art at the festival could contribute more to the creative economy and also exist alongside the internationally regarded calibre of the theatre and performances that HAF is known for. 

Shaw proposed an art fair, and it was agreed this was the best way to achieve these objectives. An art fair would show the work of career artists and engage galleries and the broader arts industry for a more professional presentation of visual art at the festival, while also creating more opportunity for artists in KZN. The partnership between the KZN Art Fair and the Hilton Arts Festival is mutually beneficial in that it aligns the quality of the performance and visual art presentations, and has provided a supportive environment for the newly formed KZN Art Fair to emerge in the province.

There was an earlier attempt to get a fair like this in Durban off the ground around the COVID period. What does it mean to finally bring it to life now?

The insights so far on this version of a local art fair confirm just how important it is to have a fair in the region. For it to come to life means that the art produced in KZN is relevant in the broader conversation of the South African art industry. It also means that the art of the region can be produced and consumed at a sustainable rate for creative practitioners – and will contribute to exposure, recognition, talent retention and attract investment to the region.

Art Fairs are an important forum where collectors, galleries and artists intersect. They are spaces for artists’ work to be seen by thousands of visitors, and specifically by collectors looking to acquire new work, or familiarise themselves with the practices of artists they follow, or don’t know about yet. Art fairs facilitate industry networking, operate as a cultural barometer and stimulate the creative economy.

KZNAF Exhibitor Art-ists Collective (AC), Durban. Installation image courtesy of AC photo credit Niamh Walsh-Vorster for the exhibition Reintroductions.

How has the reception been so far, from galleries, artists, and the public? Do you feel you have received the support and excitement that you were anticipating in the earlier days of planning? 

We were delighted by the response to our call for applications from galleries and collectives, and feel the assortment of exhibitors this year is a dynamic combination of established players and exciting new voices. It has been gratifying to include so many high-calibre KZN exhibitors, either operating as galleries or as collectives representing career artists. There are also participants from around the country who bring a diverse range of mediums and practices to the fair. Public support has been encouraging, with an impressive following of our WhatsApp broadcast channel and our social media platforms. Support from two leading industry sponsors, including Belgotex, has contributed credibility to the fair, and we continue to be grateful to Hilton College for the venue and for the endorsement and buy-in of the uMngeni Municipality and uMngeni Tourism.

Can you walk me through the programming? What can visitors expect, and what are some of the highlights? What are you most looking forward to during the fair itself?

Programming includes the gallery and artist collective booths, an exhibition of KZN craft and design sponsored by Belgotex, an arts publications zone, daily walkabouts, art-making sessions, and a series of panel discussions. We are looking forward to how these come together to showcase the dynamism and professionalism of the KZN creative sector.

Hilton College Memorial Hall, venue for the KZN Art Festival. Photo credit: Niamh Walsh-Vorster

Can you tell us a bit about the venue? What does that setting bring to the fair? 

Memorial Hall at Hilton College provides a beautiful, comfortable and spacious environment to install a fair that feels welcoming and also professional. The two exhibition halls, a lecture theatre and a workshop space are arranged around a sunny courtyard with café seating and a wine and coffee bar – a wonderful alternative to a conference centre with its harsh light and white noise! Hilton College itself is an excellent venue partner with an impressive infrastructure, its leadership buy-in to the festival and fair, and the endless operational support from staff. 

How would you describe the art and creative ecosystem in Durban and KZN more broadly right now?

Durban and KZN have always been an incubator of creative talent. There are many theories about how this happens, but the common outcome in the past is that this talent leaves because there isn’t enough opportunity to generate income from creative work here. This is why large swathes of the Joburg and Cape Town creative sectors are made up of people from KZN – we refer to this as the Durban Diaspora! 

In the last five years, however, there has been a noticeable shift with artists choosing to remain in Durban and self-start initiatives or run their practices locally. The decline in the City of Johannesburg and the soaring cost of living in Cape Town are factors, but the resounding insight is that Durban is cool – an affordable, accessible, no-fuss place to live with great weather, a good quality of life and dynamic creative communities. 

Sthenjwa Luthuli and Wonderbuhle are examples of artists thriving internationally from their Durban bases, and they pave the way for others. New gallery initiatives, collectives and studios such as Azania Yethu, Contemporary Archive Project, Art-ists Collective, uMsamo Artists’ Guild and Studio Kalki are also examples of self-led creative businesses, and each of these facilitates communities, platforms and opportunities for locally based artists to practice and sell.

And lastly, how is this fair similar to or different from other art fairs elsewhere in South Africa – in particular Johannesburg and Cape Town? 

We are similar in that we represent the work of career artists and value criticality as well as economic impact in the art industry. In this inaugural year, the KZN Art Fair is naturally smaller than our fellow art fairs around the country. We are happy that we have emerged organically in response to genuine demand for a forum like this in our region. In the coming years, we aim to stay close to our roots, honour the work of local practitioners and contribute to the KZN creative economy, while also growing to bring national, African and international voices into the conversation.

KZN Art Fair

7–9 August 2026

Opening Hours

Preview Evening

Thurs, 6 Aug 18h00-21h00

Schools & Public Programme 

Fri, 7 Aug 10h00-18h00

Public Programme

Sat, 8 Aug 10h00-18h00

Sun, 9 Aug 10h00-18h00

Address: College Avenue, Hilton, KZN 

Website: https://www.kznartfair.com/