The artistic sanctuary of A&K

Meet Alice and Khanya, two young creatives who are hosting an exhibition to showcase some of the talented individuals that populate this beautiful city

Khanya Sogiba is and has been one of the staunchest advocates for VERVE and the platform that we’re curating.

When she approached us to collaborate on her A&K art exhibition how could we say no? Ntsika had attended their first exhibition in July, and we jumped at the opportunity to be more involved this time around.

We caught up with Alice and Khanya at 6 Pepper Street, the event venue, to chat to them and learn more about the vision behind the space that they are curating.

Alice Mathebula and Khanya Sogiba, captured by @jojosph0tos

Everyone is asking us what exactly A&K is, they want to know who we’re collaborating with. So tell us, what is A&K?

Khanya: “Well the tagline is ‘A visual and performance art exhibition’. I guess what it really is, is a sanctuary. We’re both in artistic streams at UCT, and it gets frustrating because the passion for the art gets taken away by having to submit things for marks, or having to do a submission for something. A&K is a sanctuary in the sense that we’re just here to create, here for the love of the art.”

Alice: “Also the pressure of having to find an exhibition space is removed, which harbours an environment that is safe. Its safe, its friendly, its young, its not that serious. Art can be very serious, but we’re just here to have fun.”

Khanya: “Most artists started off just liking to paint, or just liking to sing. It comes from such a lighthearted space, and then the world comes in and makes everything so intense and so serious. We want to give artists the opportunity to just create for the sake of creating.”

How did you guys meet? An how did this idea come into fruition?

Khanya: “We actually met in orientation two years ago and have been friends since then. There was a point at which I was going through some heavy things, as was Alice. I came over for tea and I was saying “We need to do something, because I’m so tired of everyone putting me down” -

Alice: “Khanya told me the idea and I said “Lets just do it! Lets do it here!". Khanya comes up with all these crazy ideas, and I’m the one who tries to make them into reality. I think that’s why we work so well together. I think if we sat and deeped it and thought about what exactly we were doing, it would have been a lot scarier and maybe we wouldn’t have even ended up doing it. But we just jumped in head first and rushed to do it. And it worked!”

Khanya: “That definitely helped. Coming from a space of studying theatre, always having to conceptualise things and overthink things becomes draining. When Alice pushes me to just do it, it helps. It makes me realise that its as serious as its not. All it takes is just the willingness to do something”

Alice and Khanya, captured by @jojosph0tos

Where did your respective loves for art start?

Alice: “I feel like I’ve kind of had it inside of me my whole life. My mother studied fine art, and my father is a musician, so it’s always kind of been integrated into my life. I think I was trying to suppress my creativity at one point, I took physics and core maths at high school. When I applied to UCT though, reading through the handbook, I took the jump and applied for film. Film is the way! Just experiencing art though, its looking at the world through a different lens, I’m kind of obsessed with it.

Khanya: “Same for me, its always been there. My parents were into art as well, even though they aren’t artists. From when I was a young child I was trying everything and doing everything, because I could. I was curious and liked pretty things. And going to a boarding school, we didnt have many options to entertain ourselves. So I became the entertainment! It’s just always been there. Art is an expression of whatever it is that you’re feeling, whatever it is that’s going on. And I think that’s what A&K is trying to do, just give the artists the space to do what they want to do without restrictions, by virtue of getting a certain amount of marks, or getting paid a certain amount. Its a pure, freeing experience.

Alice: “Its just all about the art. We’re funding it ourselves and we probably won’t even make a profit. But we’re doing it for the sake of the art, for the people who truly appreciate it.”

A poster for the first A&K exhibition in July

How did the first exhibition go?

Alice: “It was crazy! We expected maybe 20 people to show up but when we checked the ticket sales after there were 189 people!”

Khanya: “I was a bit worried, because the artists we chose were so different from each other. Even the visual artists and the performers were so varied. I remember asking Ally, ‘Do you think this is a bit all over the place?’. But we realised it wasn’t. Our love of things isn’t linear. Even when we listen to music, sometimes we listen to hip-hop, and then we listen to jazz, and then we listen to something else. A&K being young and experimental, and being so light-hearted about it all, it helps us to experiment with our mistakes.”

Alice: “I think us being so young can be a disadvantage, because we don’t know that much. But mainly it’s an advantage, because we have the time and energy to want to do this. As well as the creative energy of youth.”

Khanya: “One of my lecturers said once, “They call it a play but you guys don’t play anymore. Because the platform to play doesn’t exist”. With the first one we were allowed to experiment, not knowing how it would turn out, but it actually worked. Not everyone would do what we did, would mix so many different things in one. But it worked for us.”

Alice: “I didn’t realise how emotional I would be afterwards. We were fretting for days before, but seeing everyone there who had gone out of their way to witness this, and watching people network. We realised that we were making creations there as well, and it was just so beautiful”

Why do you think so many people are drawn to the space that you’re creating?

Alice: “I think maybe curiosity, because its so new. Also the artists that are in the space, as varied as they are, they all bring in their own crowd that mixes into one”

Khanya: “You’d be surprised at how kind and willing to do things people can be. I think the people that came through last time just had this openness to experience something.”

A poster for the first A&K exhibition in July

As second year students at UCT, what do you think of the cultural landscape of the city that you’ve moved to, and where do you see it going from here?

Alice: “I definitely think Cape Town is a hub for creativity. Creativity is spewing from everywhere in this city. Which can be a good thing, because it creates room and it creates a community, but it can be a bad thing because it can foster competition.”

Khanya: “It definitely has a lot more opportunities than Joburg. People here are a lot more open to seeing something from someone that they don’t know or haven’t seen before.”

Alice: “I don’t think we would be able to do this is Joburg or Durban, I don’t think anyone would come”

Zahra Bayo and Ropa Chatindo performing at the first A&K Exhibition

Be sure to grab some tickets to the A&K exhibition happening this Friday the 22nd of November at 6 Pepper Street. And keep an eye on our feed this week to learn more about the artists being showcased at the exhibition. We can personally attest to the wealth of talent on offer.

Come meet Alice and Khanya and witness the beautiful community that they are fostering. Enter the Artistic Sanctuary of A&K, and experience the raw passion of the artists.

I mean, tickets are only 40 bucks, how could you not?