ARTIST TALKS 002: LandScape, PlaceMaking, HiStories
Are you an artist or a creative who engages with, reflects on or responds to the impact of the global climate crisis on the environment, people, and society through art, culture, design or creative writing?
Join us for a session of practical information and inspirational talks by fellow artists to guide your SIAP ’26 fellowship proposal.
Speakers:
Strijdom van der Merwe
Ben Stanwix
Xhanti Zwelendaba
Dillon Marsh
Strijdom van der Merwe creates ephemeral geometric land art in desert landscapes, using sand, rocks, and sparse vegetation to form precise circles, lines, and shadows that interplay human geometry with nature’s vast, arid impermanence. His site-specific works in places like South Africa’s Karoo emphasise transience and harmony. Come hear how the landscape shapes his mind.
Ben Stanwix and Xhanti Zwelendaba‘s collaborative practice explores South African land, landscapes, and colonial-apartheid histories through textiles and mixed media. By printing archival images on Xhosa ikhukho mats, they reinterpret missionary scenes from Thaba Nchu, blending personal experiences with cultural legacies. Come listen to them discuss how they work together on interesting projects.
Dillon Marsh, a Cape Town-based photographer, meticulously captures human and non-human interventions in landscapes, from cellphone towers to copper mines to weaver bird nests. These typological series emphasise deliberate and unintentional marks on the world. He blends on-site photography with CGI to visualise the scale of extraction—such as colossal ore orbs—highlighting environmental impacts and our tenuous relationship with nature. Come see how he frames the world.
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