THE DYNAMIC DUO REWRITING THE GEOGRAPHY OF CREATIVITY

kumalo|turpin announces itself with confidence, intention, and an eye on the future

November 17, 2025
By Kemiso Wessie for Wanted

At Here Joburg — Rosebank’s latest coffee shop and workspace du jour — gallerists Zanele Kumalo and MJ Turpin sit side by side, reflecting on endings, beginnings and shifting the geography of the art world. Come early 2026, their new venture, kumalo|turpin, will be the latest addition to Johannesburg’s gallery scene at the soon-to-open Nine Yards lifestyle precinct in Parktown North.

The duo was previously at the helm of the rebellious Kalashnikovv Gallery, where Kumalo served as associate director and Turpin as co-director and co-founder alongside Matthew Dowdle. Founded in 2013 in Braamfontein (later moving to Parkhurst), Kalashnikovv became shorthand for the city’s creative underground, shaping a generation of artists in the post-2010 independent art movement.

Although the news of the gallery’s closure came as a surprise, Kalashnikovv ended its 12-year tenure with its final FNB Art Joburg HUB booth presentation and a sprawling multi-venue afterparty at Play Braamfontein that spilt onto Juta Street like a final love letter to the city where it all began. Yet, as guests moved from space to space, the evening felt less like a conclusion and more like a foray into something new.

However, as Turpin insists, “It’s not a rebrand. What we’ve learnt along the way and how we want to engage with the art world now is quite different [from] what we’ve done before.”

While it is a different art space, Kumalo notes, “We’re coming with good baggage.” She reflects on how kumalo|turpin’s direction is simply built on the lessons and experiences of Kalashnikovv. “We wanted to archive what we’d done before and build something new that reflects the art world as it is now and where we want it to go,” she elaborates. The art space made its official debut at FNB in the LAB section with a curated selection of artists, including Boemo Diale, Cameron Platter, Nathaniel Sheppard III, Ronél de Jager and Maja Maljević.

kumalo|turpin projects a sense of purpose and maturity, a deliberate evolution with a broadened focus and ambitions that extend beyond borders. They speak fluidly about expanding their reach to the “global majority”, a term they favour over the outdated “Global South”. “It’s to show the world that there is no need for a hierarchy when it comes to the quality of creativity,” says Turpin. “[The global majority] are much bigger and more formidable than we’ve been given credit for; it’s just shifting the rules of engagement,” adds Kumalo.

Turpin succinctly sums it up: “The future is the global majority.”

The pair moves through conversations with sharp insight and quick debates, a dynamic that makes for captivating dialogue. Their partnership is built on complementary skill sets. Kumalo, with her background in media and communications, is focused on strategy, branding and public engagement. Turpin, an artist as well as a curator, brings conceptual and technical precision, “I can talk to an artist from [that] point of view to [help] grow their practice.”

“We don’t just want to represent artists,” Kumalo says. Their decision to narrow their roster of artists comes with a longer-term vision to build sustainable careers and give each artist’s work the attention it deserves. “We want to help them continue their careers [through] institutional engagement, participating in international art fairs, and placing them in important residencies.”

Even before its physical space opens, kumalo|turpin has already made a strong 154-London debut at Somerset House in October with works by Katlego Tlabela, Theresa-Anne Mackintosh, Diale and Platter.

Beyond exhibitions and fairs, the art space will run an active public programme of various workshops and projects. “There [will be] more engagement between ourselves as an art space and audiences,” Kumalo explains. “They can ask questions, and artists can understand what gallery representation and a career as an artist actually mean.”

“People think we just find art and put it on the wall,” Turpin jokes. To shift this perception, the team is committed to openness, accessibility and giving audiences a window into the work behind the walls.

After several years of contraction and managing the side effects of Covid-19, the city’s art ecosystem appears to be re-positioning itself. “Joburg has been in a lull for the last three or four years,” Kumalo reflects. “[But] there is definitely a rebirth that is imminent.” Both partners emphasise collaboration as a necessity. “We can’t just work as one sole entity,” Kumalo says. “We need other people, artists, galleries and art spaces to support our artists.”

Turpin frames the art space’s approach as intentionally progressive from the art world status quo, aiming to engage in bold, assertive collaborations with other galleries, whether they are ready for it or not. “Everything is being reset geographically, contextually and hierarchically, and we definitely want to take advantage of it.”

By combining the lessons of the past with a forward-looking vision, kumalo|turpin positions itself at the intersection of continuity and reinvention. Though the effect of its ambitions will unfold over time, the art space’s potential and promise are undeniably compelling. For all its global ambition, kumalo|turpin is grounded in a local sensibility of community and care. “We’re not going to claim to be the saviours of the SA art world,” Turpin says. “We’re using what already exists and altering parts of it to create a more accessible formula.”

Kumalo concludes: “At the end of the day, we just want to look after our artists better.”

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MJ Turpin and Zanele Kumalo bring a renewed vision to Johannesburg’s evolving creative ecosystem. Picture: (Anthea Pokroy)