The exhibition From Concept to Object / Wanneer Idees Gestalte Kry provides the organising theme for the Welgemeend Art Month 2026, Cape Town’s much-loved winter arts festival, now in its thirteenth year.
Drawing on works from the Kilbourn Collection and other private collections, the group exhibition explores how artists transform ideas into tangible form.
It also includes a special focus on Cecil Skotnes, a pivotal figure in the history of modern South African art. Coinciding with the centenary of Skotnes’s birth in 1926, the exhibition has particular significance for Strauss & Co Chairperson Frank Kilbourn. In 1981, while studying law at Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg), Kilbourn met Skotnes, together with fellow artists Walter Battiss and Edoardo Villa, at an exhibition on campus. The encounter sparked a lifelong passion for collecting South African art.
Established on land first granted in 1693, Welgemeend is an elegant single-storey Cape house recognised by architectural historian Hans Fransen in The Old Buildings of the Cape (1965). Today it serves both as a heritage site and an active cultural venue. Funds raised through previous editions of Welgemeend Art Month have supported a range of conservation projects, including waterproofing, restoration of historic woodwork and the conservation of the property’s Bösendorfer grand piano.
As in previous years, Frank Kilbourn has curated From Concept to Object / Wanneer Idees Gestalte Kry in collaboration with Lizelle Kilbourn, who runs the lecture and social programme. In conjunction with the Skotnes family and a few friends and fellow collectors, they selected works that illuminate the exhibition’s central theme.
The presentation brings together modern masters including Walter Battiss, J.H. Pierneef, Douglas Portway, Alexis Preller, Marianne Podlashuc and Lucky Sibiya with contemporary artists Tom Cullberg, Conrad Botes, Alexandra Karakashian, Bella Knemeyer, Dale Lawrence, Senzeni Marasela and Buqaqawuli Nobakada. Painting has long occupied a central place in Welgemeend Art Month.
This year’s exhibition places particular emphasis on contemporary painting, led by ambitious multi-panel works by Ruby Swinney and Strijdom van der Merwe. The exhibition also includes works by Sydney Kumalo, Ezrom Legae, Cecily Sash and Edoardo Villa, all members of the influential Amadlozi Group alongside Skotnes.
Best known for his painted and incised wooden panels, woodblock prints, public murals, tapestries and sculpture, Skotnes was also an influential mentor. Reflecting this legacy, the exhibition includes works by Bruce Arnott, Ledelle Moe, Brett Murray, Penny Siopis and Michael Taylor, artists who have themselves played significant roles as teachers and mentors to subsequent generations.
VIEW THE FULL PROGRAMME HERE and discover multiple reasons for visiting the exhibitions and events at Welgemeend!
WHAT: Welgemeend Art Month 2026 1 – 31 AUGUST 2026
WHERE: Welgemeend , 2 Welgemeend Street, Gardens, Cape Town 8001
WHEN:1 – 31 August 2026 | VIEW THE FULL PROGRAMME
BOOKING: As required – view FULL Programme above
INFO: T 079 227 4461 | E info@welgemeendart.co.za | VISIT
LEAD PHOTO: Cecil Skotnes | Feast (Taljaard Collection)
