New Storytellers: Belonging (Trajectories to Belonging) opens Saturday, 29 August 2026, 11:00–14:00 at Market Photo Workshop, Newtown, with panel discussion.

New Storytellers, belonging (trajectories to belonging)

Curated by: Dr. Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo

“Love is the key that carries cultures from oppression into joy. As a political force, love becomes a contract of liberation,” reflects artist Sabelo Mlangeni.

From Saturday 29 August 2026, 11:00 – 14:00

New Storytellers, belonging (trajectories to belonging) brings together 28 young creators whose practices explore the many ways we belong; to place, to memory, and to one another. Through photography and narrative, they trace connections across time and geography, weaving intimate personal histories into broader political landscapes. From Soweto to Umlazi, via a multitude of locations between and beyond.

Some creators engage intergenerational memory, revealing how the past continues to shape the present, while others reimagine the archive – disrupting inherited narratives and opening space for future communities.

In an era shaped by speed, going viral, and data-driven image production, these creators offer a different rhythm; one grounded in slowness, care, and persistence. This shift emerges through the creation of photographic objects: works that resist instant consumption and instead invite presence, touch, and duration. By moving beyond the fleeting digital image, these practices reassert photography as a material and reflective form, capable of holding time, memory, and embodied experience.

Presented within this context, the exhibition is enriched by the National Legacy Project; an initiative of the Market Photo Workshop in collaboration with the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in Arles, France. This three-year programme is dedicated to empowering photographers from diverse communities across South Africa.

Designed for photographers seeking to deepen their conceptual and creative work alongside entrepreneurial skills, the project reflects a commitment to long-term growth and agency. It is carried out with the support of the Institut Français and the Agence Française de Dévelopement (AFD) as part of the “Accès Culture” programme – reinforcing a shared vision of cultural exchange, capacity building, and storytelling across borders.

New Storytellers, belonging (trajectories to belonging) A group exhibition of the National Legacy Project – an initiative of the Market Photo Workshop in collaboration with the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (ENSP) in Arles, France.

Opening Event: Saturday 29 August 2026, 11:00 – 14:00

The Photo Workshop Gallery and Gallery 1989, 138 Lilian Ngoyi St,Newtown with Dr. Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo in conversation with Ezona Njokweni and Ntandoyenkosi Maseko

Wednesday 2 September, 17:00 – 19:00

The Market Photo Workshop Auditorium

A panel discussion on New Storytellers: Who Gets to Tell the Story? Photography, Memory and Belonging in South Africa with:

•              Dr. Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo is an artist and dedicated researcher with a multifaceted career in the fields of curation and editorial work, both within Chile and internationally.

•              Bongani Njalo, an award-winning artist and the Cultural Programs Coordinator for the Goethe-Institut South Africa.

•              Michelle Loukidis is Founder of Through the Lens Collective.

Opening Event: Saturday 05 September 2026, 11:00 – 14:00 Walkabout with Curator Dr. Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo

About Market Photo Workshop

The Market Photo Workshop is a Johannesburg-based school of photography, gallery and resource center for practicing photographers. Since its establishment in 1989, the school has played an integral role in the training and growth of photographers from South Africa and further afield, while promoting photography through exhibitions, public debates and collaborative projects, especially within marginalized communities. The Market Photo Workshop is a division of The Market Theatre Foundation. Market Photo Workshop is the recipient of The Principal Prince Claus Award 2018.

About École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie

The ENSP, a higher education institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, is located in Arles, in the south of France, an emblematic city of photographic culture. In 2020, the Arles School moved into a 5,000 m2 building designed by the French architect Marc Barani, which allows it to continue its teaching activities while offering spaces open to the public: a 450 m2 exhibition hall, a 185-seat auditorium, a library with more than 30,000 volumes, and a Fablab, a laboratory for the fabrication and digital creation of objects and images of all kinds.

Proud to continually develop new interdisciplinary reflections and to encourage the plurality of artistic practices around photography and images, several spheres of training and activities intersect at the Arles School: from initial, diploma-granting training to continuing and certifying professional training, not forgetting research with the Doctorate in partnership with the University of Aix-Marseille, activities offered to amateurs with the Photo Workshops, or even young international creation through the Mentoring program dedicated to it.

For more information, please contact:
Bekie Ntini
Manager: Training and Public Engagement Programming
T 011 834 1444
E-mail: bekien@marketphotoworkshop.co.za

Market Photo Workshop
c/o Market Square
138 Lilian Ngoyi St
Entrance at Margaret Macingana Street
Newtown
Johannesburg
www.marketphotoworkshop.co.za

The Market Photo Workshop is a division of The Market Theatre Foundation.

Bongiwe Potelwa
bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za
079 967 3441
The Market Theatre Foundation
https://marketphotoworkshop.co.za