Established in 2008 by Trevyn and Julian McGowan, Southern Guild represents contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora. Based in Cape Town and Los Angeles, the gallery’s programme furthers the continent’s contribution to global art movements. Southern Guild’s artists deploy representation as an act of agency against marginalisation, responding to the need for visibility, plurality, cultural legacy and the preservation of ancestral knowledge within today’s fractured socio-political climate.

In the true spirit of a guild, the gallery was founded on the principles of community and collaboration, and grew out of a desire to provoke new work, facilitate alliances between differing disciplines, and articulate what it means to be human. Having pioneered the collectible design category on the continent, the gallery showcases excellence across both functional and contemporary art. Southern Guild partners meaningfully with artists through artwork production and exhibition-making to foster their careers and propel their capacity for creative evolution.

The gallery’s programming facilitates opportunities for dialogue and activism including panel discussions, talks, walkabouts and outreach, and nurtures new talent through educational projects and the GUILD Residency studio programme.

Southern Guild is invested in the growth of the African creative ecosystem, cultivating an ethos of cultural exchange and interconnectedness through its robust international fair and biennale programme, and by partnering with curators, institutions, and museums to realise distinctive interdisciplinary projects.

Works have been acquired by leading institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Brooklyn Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Mint Museum, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum (DAM), Vitra Design Museum, Design Museum Gent, New Taipei City Yingge Ceramic Museum and National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). Gallery artists have also exhibited at institutions including Tate Modern, Pompidou Centre, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Saint-Étienne Métropole (MAMC), Seoul Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, African American Museum of Dallas, Norval Foundation and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA).