Southern Guild and BMW Group South Africa toasted the return of real-life art events, actual crowds and a vibrant local art market at a VIP Artist Dinner in celebration of Nandipha Mntambo‘s solo exhibition, ‘Transcending Instinct’, during the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. The exhibition marks the multi-disciplinary artist’s first collection of collectible design.

The dinner began with guests arriving in a fleet of BMWs for an Artist Walkabout at the gallery, before being whisked off to the CBD for a very special dinner held at the newly-launched GUILD Residency. The inner-city loft was transformed with a lush canopy of green forming the setting for a culinary exploration conceptualised by chef Johnny Hamman of Slippery Spoon Kitchen, whilst wines from Quoin Rock elevated the evening.

A multidisciplinary artist who rose to prominence for her cowhide sculptures, Mntambo sees her oeuvre to date as a continuous and interconnected body of work. Collaborating with Southern Guild presented her with the opportunity to explore how key ideas, materials and forms from her archive could be applied to the creation of functional objects.

“Lately, my interest lies in re-examining the concept of shape and forms and reflecting on my earlier sculpture and photography, using my current practice as a lens to look back,” says Mntambo.

Each of the four seating objects in ‘Transcending Instinct’ takes as its departure point a recurring motif or modality from Mntambo’s work.