There are just three weeks left to see the freshest generation of South African visual artists in one gallery. The 2025 Sasol New Signatures exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum — a nationwide talent search that this year attracted more than 900 entries — closes on 2 November 2025, giving collectors, students and casual visitors a shrinking window to view all 103 finalists and the top seven award-winning works in person.
This year’s show is a concentrated, generational statement: bold material choices, interactive installations and experiments in voice, body and labour run through the galleries. “This is a must-see exhibition. The standard of entries this year was exceptionally high, showcasing the newest creative voices leading the next wave of South African visual art,” says Cate Terblanche, Curator of the Sasol Art Collection.
A ceramic installation that breathes: Juandré van Eck’s Cycles of the Mind
The overall winner of the 2025 competition is Juandré van Eck (25) from Gqeberha — an Honours student at Nelson Mandela University — who takes home a R100,000 prize and the opportunity to mount a solo show at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2026. Van Eck’s interactive ceramic installation Cycles of the Mind captivated judges with its acoustic and meditative presence — a piece that uses sound, water and breath to invite tactile engagement and slow attention. The work was described by the creators and Sasol programme notes as a poetic metaphor for recurring mental states and the small rituals that reinscribe them.
Van Eck, a 2024 merit winner who returns as a matured practitioner, told festival media that the work urges viewers to “please do touch” — a rare invitation in a museum context that frames ceramics as a living, performative medium rather than a fragile display object.
Runner-up and five merit winners: material variety and clear voices
The Runner-up Award (R25,000) was given to Thabo Treasure Mofokeng (Johannesburg) for Still Standing, a painting whose subject and facture reflects resilience amid hardship. The five Merit Award winners — each receiving R10,000 — are:
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Tammy Lee Baikie (Johannesburg) — Book Worms (mixed media)
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Rebecca Louise (Beck) Glass (Pretoria) — Sell–Fish (etching)
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Snelihle Asanda Maphumulo (Gqeberha) — Ngaphansi kwesithunzi sakhe (Under His Shadow) (sheep hide on canvas)
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Vian Mervyn Roos (Pretoria) — 2916 (cotton thread)
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Sarah Volker (Gqeberha) — Taut, Tethered and Torn (ballet tights, stones, cement blocks).
Taken together, the prize list highlights material experimentation — from thread and found objects to etching and hide — and signals jurors’ appetite for artists who push medium-specific boundaries while addressing contemporary social concerns.
A parallel solo: Miné Kleynhans’ speculative instruments
Running concurrently with New Signatures is the solo exhibition by Miné Kleynhans, winner of the 2024 Sasol New Signatures award. Titled Augury After Autogogues, Kleynhans’ show constructs a satirical, speculative cosmos in which invented instruments and hybrid objects (wood, metal, 3D-printed parts, resin and found materials) are used to divine meaning from media saturation and social life. Works such as Orbea kako-occultus and Abacus for Emotional Transactions II invite hands-on investigation and a wry reading of contemporary ritual. The solo exhibition runs in parallel at the Pretoria Art Museum until 2 November.
A richer museum visit: QR artist statements and a digital twin
This year the museum experience has been enhanced to deepen viewers’ engagement: QR codes placed beside each work link to artist statements and process notes, while a full virtual exhibition on the Sasol New Signatures website reproduces the catalogue and the installation sequence for online audiences. That means regional and international viewers can still navigate the show in full, even if they can’t visit Arcadia Park in Pretoria.
Why Sasol New Signatures still matters
Launched decades ago, Sasol New Signatures has become a reliable pipeline for discovering and supporting emergent artistic voices across South Africa. “Sasol New Signatures continues to play a crucial role in discovering, nurturing, and showcasing the next generation of South African artists,” says Pfunzo Sidogi, Chairperson of Sasol New Signatures — a statement that captures the competition’s role as both validator and platform, from cash prizes to solo exhibitions that can change careers practically overnight.
The 2025 competition’s tally of 900+ entries and the inclusion of 103 finalists emphasises the depth of talent across the country and the value of national programmes that funnel regional differences into a single, curated conversation.
Practical details — visit, hours, contacts
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Venue: Pretoria Art Museum, corner Francis Baard & Wessels Streets, Arcadia Park, Pretoria. Arts PTA
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Dates: Exhibition open now — closes 2 November 2025. Sasol New Signatures
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Museum hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00–17:00 (closed Mondays & public holidays). Arts PTA
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Virtual tour & catalogue: Visit www.sasolsignatures.co.za to view the online exhibition and artist profiles. Sasol New Signatures
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Enquiries / media: Association of Arts Pretoria — Nandi Hilliard: 012 346 3100 / 083 288 5117 or artspta@mweb.co.za. (As listed in the exhibition materials.) Arts PTA
Final note: an invitation to witness what’s next
With just three weeks to go, the 2025 Sasol New Signatures exhibition is a concentrated chance to witness how South African artists are rethinking material, narrative and the social role of art. From Juandré van Eck’s meditative, interactive ceramics to Miné Kleynhans’ speculative instruments, the show invites tactile curiosity as much as visual attention. If you care about where South African contemporary art is headed, see it in person — or walk the virtual rooms online before the exhibition closes on 2 November 2025.
