“Come, come see my home!
It’s any place where nobody gives orders;
It’s any moment of surprise”
Excerpt from “Where the Wind Don’t Blow” by Bessie Head
The 2026 matric exhibition Homeward Bound opened on Saturday, 27 June 2026 and is on view until Sunday, 30 August 2026 in the tunnels on Level -1 at Zeitz MOCAA. The exhibition takes inspiration from A Protea is Not a Flower, the multi-generational exhibition currently on show on Level 4 of Zeitz MOCAA. Featuring South African modernists Gerard Sekoto, Don Mattera and Bessie Head, and their contemporaries, Lerato Shadi and Robin Rhode, this intergenerational exhibition questions notions of exile and belonging, and what it means to take on exile as an artist, whether voluntarily or through force.
The eighteen participating Grade 12 Visual Art learners were challenged with the antithesis of exile, unpacking how one creates a sense of belonging and identity. At this stage of their lives, the transition between childhood and adulthood, tradition and forging a new path for oneself, fixed steps and open worlds, all become key factors in critiquing what it means to be homeward bound. The notion of home is interrogated in the past, present and future simultaneously, with themes of nostalgia, longing and dreaming featuring heavily throughout the exhibition.
The Annual Matric Workshop, hosted by the BMW Centre for Art Education, invites Grade 12 Visual Art learners from around Cape Town to come together each year to engage with and respond to an exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA, with 2026 marking the five year anniversary of this programme.
This year’s workshop began in March with four intensive days of discussion, experimentation and working in alternative mediums, expanding the boundaries of what it means to be an emerging contemporary artist. In this programme, creativity becomes a vessel for other major life skills such as writing, collaboration and public speaking, ultimately allowing each participant to develop their own unique voice by the end of the programme.
The artworks featured in Homeward Bound were created over the course of ten weeks, with intense guidance, support and feedback in the form of critique sessions and working Saturdays, not to mention many afternoons spent working tirelessly after school and exams. We invite you to feel at home with us, as we dream into existence the future homes of the eighteen artists featured in this exhibition.
Artists:
Alexandra Knutsen, Alexis D’Oliveira, Alice Croft, Ammaarah Manuel, Calen Vaughan, Casper Wepener, Chelsea-Lee Alexander, Christina Edson, Eliza Koning-Smith, Ella Orford, Isabelle Bessick, James Goodchild-Brown, Liam Wessels, Muaath Francis, Nadine Fillies, Natalie Emeledoh, Nazeerah Ceres, Toni Lyla Etson
Participating Schools:
Belhar High School, Bridgehouse High School, Cedar High School, Edgemead High School, Gardens Commercial High School, Herschel Girls High School, International School of Cape Town, Livingstone High School, Paul Roos Gymnasium , PJ Olivier Art Centre, Rallim Modern Learning Environment, Reddam House Constantia, Rhenish Girls High School, Rustenburg Girls High School, South Peninsula High School, Springfield Convent High School, St. Cyprian’s High School, The Settlers High School, Wynberg Girls High School
