The KZN Art Fair at Hilton Arts Festival will connect galleries with new talent and new markets, creating sustainable careers for both emerging and established artists.
Set at Hilton College in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, the fair’s inaugural edition runs from 7 to 9 August 2026 as part of the 34th Hilton Arts Festival.
Memorial Hall is the venue for the fair, with gallery booths in the main hall and adjoining classrooms flanking a courtyard café, and a lecture theatre reserved for the talks programme.
Attracting over 25,000 visitors annually and enjoying national and international acclaim, the Hilton Arts Festival provides an ideal launchpad for this new fair. The festival’s renowned performing arts programming and Jongosi Youth Programme are now joined by an elevated visual art and design experience.
Visitors to the KZN Art Fair will encounter a curated programme celebrating KwaZulu-Natal’s dynamic visual arts and design scene, alongside notable work from around the country. Galleries representing career artists, and booths showcasing the best of KZN design, will be complemented by a robust events and education programme of talks, panel discussions, workshops and book launches.
Making Ground
A highlight of the new KZN Art Fair at Hilton Arts Festival, is Making Ground, an exhibition sponsored by Belgotex, which celebrates excellence and ingenuity in the local design and craft sector. Mounted in the Hilton College Memorial Hall, and co-curated by Shaw and design strategist Lauren Lockhart-Barker of The Forgotten Flexible, Making Ground spotlights the KZN practitioners and studios shaping contemporary South African material culture.
Education & public programme
Creative Futures: Jongosi Visual Arts – Friday 7 August 2026
Creative Futures is a contemporary art learning programme introducing secondary school and tertiary learners to the diverse opportunities, practices and careers within the visual arts and creative industries.
- Looking & Listening — dual curator exhibition walkabouts exploring how exhibitions are curated and interpreted
- Making — studio workshops, including Tetra Pak Printmaking and Paper Clay Sculpture (Tertiary/Grades 11–12) and Charcoal Drawing (Grade 10 and younger)
- Imagining Futures — Creative Pathways: a conversation with artist Mmangaliso Nzuza and art collector and acquisitions consultant Kyle Hutchings on careers across the creative ecosystem
The programme is open to high school learners and tertiary students, and costs R470 for all three activities. To book, visit hiltonfestival.co.za/jongosi or email julia@hiltonfestival.co.za.
Talks & Walkabout Programme – Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 August 2026
A public talks programme in the lecture theatre brings together artists, curators, researchers, designers and cultural organisations for four panel discussions exploring the infrastructure, history and sustainability of the creative sector:
- Making a Scene: Self-Organised Initiatives as Alternative Cultural Infrastructure — on artist-led spaces, collectives and platforms reshaping the contemporary art ecosystem
- Writing Art History from Below — with Mario Pissarra and Cedric Nunn, on how art histories are produced, preserved and circulated, featuring the work of the African South Arts Initiative (ASAI)
- Designing Sustainability: The Future of Making — moderated by Angela Shaw, on design, craft and entrepreneurship in building sustainable creative economies
- Building New Arts Ecosystems: Sustainability, Collaboration and the Future of Cultural Infrastructure — on the networks of artists, organisations, funders and collectors that sustain the sector
The public programme includes walkabouts of the fair and design exhibition on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 with curator and arts educator, Sumayya Menezes. Full panel line-ups, speaker confirmations and session times will be published closer to the fair.
For details on the education programme, visit www.kznartfair.com
KZN Art Fair hours:
VIP Vernissage preview:
Thursday 6 August, 18:00 to 21:00
Public:
Friday 7 August, 10:00 to 18:00
Saturday, 8 August, 10:00 to 18:00
Sunday, 9 August, 10:00 to 18:00
Tickets:
4 day VIP pass (including Vernissage preview)
6 to 9 August 2026
R 550
Day passes
Friday 7 Aug, Saturday 8 Aug, & Sunday 9 Aug
Adult R 180
Senior R 100
Student R 50
A ticket to the KZN Art Fair includes access to all talks and walkabouts, and the Festival parking fee.
