The BMW Art Generation Vol. III Returns to NIROX Sculpture Park on August 30, 2025

This year’s theme, “A Tropology Between Image and Imagination,” explores the narrative power of creative practice. The BMW Art Generation Vol. III brings artists and cultural thinkers together to investigate how symbolism, gesture, and form serve as tools to reclaim histories and shape speculative futures. Through this lens, the festival underscores imagination as methodology, illuminating African presence in all its complexity and nuance.

To open up The BMW Art Generation Vol. III programme, Garden Affirmations with Muneyi invites you to slow down and be present. Framed through a deep commitment to intergenerational conversation and critical joy, the programme draws on cultural giants and contemporary visionaries alike. Musical performances by the legendary Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse and genre-defying composer Msaki continue the legacy of South African sonic innovation, threading the foundation laid by elders through the voices of those shaping sound today.

Talks Programme

A curated talks programme anchors the day’s intellectual offering:

Talk I | Image and Imagination

This panel features acclaimed artists such as Zanele Muholi, examining how image- making becomes a means of resistance, self-author ship, and future-building. The conversation unpacks the frameworks through which artists interpret identity, presence, and cultural mythologies.

Talk II | Existing, Performance & Being

Featuring luminaries like Nicholas Hlobo, this conversation responds to Koyo Kouoh’s call for loving and emancipatory depictions of Black experiences. Artists reflect on how performance and representation in intersect with history, grief, and joy.

These talks serve as key moments for reflection, offering audiences deeper insight into the artistic processes and lived experiences that shape contemporary art on the continent and beyond.

Community Workshop

The BMW Centre for Art Education will also host a workshop for the Kromdraai community, led by Liesl Hartman, Head of Education at Zeitz MOCAA. This initiative encourages hands-on creativity and fosters intergenerational exchange through artmaking.

Legacy & Vision

At its core, The BMW Art Generation is about legacy-building. Since 2020, BMW and FNB Art Joburg have cultivated a new wave of art patrons through the BMW Young Collectors Co., a community committed to collecting African art and investing in local cultural ecosystems.

Taz Ramphisa, General Manager: Customer and Brand for BMW Group South Africa, notes, “BMW is committed to creativity and innovation within the art world. Art Generation reflects our ongoing support for platforms that shape discourse, nurture talent, and enrich communities.”

Mandla Sibeko, Managing Director of FNB Art Joburg, adds, “Art is a language of meaning, memory, and transformation. Through Art Generation, we honour those who stretch the limits of imagination and visual storytelling.” The event promises a day of deep engagement with art, imagination, and dialogue, continuing to shape the future of artistic expression on African soil.

Event and Ticket Info

Date: August 30, 2025 Venue: NIROX Sculpture Park
Tickets: R500 (includes access to talks, exhibitions, and all programming) Book here: https://tickets.tixsa.co.za/event/bmw-art-generation

BMW Group Cultural Engagement

Why Culture? Why not! Culture is knowledge, a sanctuary of beauty and depth, of meaning and peace. An inspiring escape. Tranquil at best, even unsettling sometimes. As corporate citizen, the BMW Group takes social responsibility seriously, as part of which it has been involved in hundreds of cultural initiatives worldwide for over half a century, both in the arts, music & sound, architecture as well as in design. As a long-term partner, creative freedom is key – and as essential for groundbreaking works as it is for major innovations within a business enterprise like ours.

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/overview Instagram: @BMWGroupCulture
#BMWGroupCulture The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial services. The BMW Group production network comprises over 30 production sites worldwide; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2024, the BMW Group sold over 2.45 million passenger vehicles and more than 210,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2024 was € 11.0 billion on revenues amounting to € 142.4 billion. As of 31 December 2024, the BMW Group had a workforce of 159,104 employees.

The economic success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. Sustainability is a key element of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy and covers all products from the supply chain and production to the end of their useful life.

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