THK Gallery Cape Town welcomes February with the opening of Collected Memory on 13 February, followed by their participation in the 12th Investec Cape Town Art Fair, running from 21–23 February 2025.
Collected Memory – Group Exhibition
Collected Memory brings together an exceptional group of local and international female artists: Leila Abrahams, Sahlah Davids, Amy Rusch, and Karla Nixon, alongside Mille Kalsmose and Purvai Rai, both of whom are being presented in South Africa for the first time. :Local artists Mille Kalsmose, who is in Cape Town for the occasion
Collected Memory gathers a remarkable selection of female artists whose practices engage with the theme of materiality as a vessel for reflection and reconstruction, a locus of both identity and memory.
Mille Kalsmose hand-dyeing paper for ‘Collected Memory’ in Cape Town. Image courtesy of the artist
At the heart of the exhibition lies the idea of materiality as a living archive: the idea that materials move beyond their physicality and carry personal and collective histories. Through a diverse array of media and methodologies, the artists reveal the critical role of material engagement as a lens through which we examine belonging, temporality, and the resonance of cultural memory.
The exhibition will present the newest iteration of Mille Kalsmose‘s globally acclaimed ‘Collected Memory’ series, recontextualized for Cape Town’s cultural and ecological landscape. Drawing on her meticulous practice of transforming paper into repositories of experience, Kalsmose dyes her works with tea creating a poetic resonance between material and place. Her work invites reflection on the subtle alchemy of memory—its fragility, its resilience, and its profound ability to connect. ‘Collected Memory’ debuted at the UN Headquarters in New York (2020), and has since travelled to museums and cultural destinations worldwide. At each location, the installation gathers new contributions, continually expanding its archive of human experiences.
12th Investec Cape Town Art Fair
THK Gallery is proud to present a curated selection of international artists at the 12th Investec Cape Town Art Fair, featuring local artists in dialogue with artists from Denmark, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. The presentation brings together expressive paintings, intricate textile works, and monumental sculpture, each engaging with themes of memory, heritage, and the ever-evolving human experience.
Join THK at Main booth C13, where they present work by Purvai Rai, Mille Kalsmose, Thomas Wachholz, Talut Kareem, Gillian Rosselli, Abdus Salaam and Driaan Claassen.
A highlight of the presentation is Abdus Salaam’s ‘Unseen Unto Stone’, a monumental sculpture influenced by ancient reliefs such as Göbekli Tepe and the Shigir Idol. Sculpted solely by the artist from a single block of marble, the work explores the interconnected themes of unity, civilisation, and the transcendence of binary oppositions, invoking a deep spiritual and historical consciousness.
More EXCELLENT reasons to be in Cape Town this February!Â
WHAT: Collected Memory and Investec Cape Town Art Fair
WHERE: THK Cape Town, 52 Waterkant Street, Cape Town 8001
WHEN: Collected Memory opens 13 February from 6–8 PM | Investec Cape Town Art Fair, 21 – 23 February 2025
INFO: T +27(0)76 367 6387 | E office@thkgallery.com | VISIT | See also Explore Emerging Trends & Transformative Works – Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025Â
PHOTO: Purvai Rai, Mannat 10, 2023 (detail)
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