2025-06-05 | Bag Factory celebrates the birthday our fellow Ntate David Nthubu Koloane

Bag Factory celebrates the birthday of one of our great, late co-founders, Thami Mnyele Foundation fellow Ntate David Nthubu Koloane.

They warmly reflect and remember Ntate David as, not only an artist and founder, but as a curator, writer, educator, mentor and a leader of black South African art.

At a time when apartheid policies marginalised black artists, Koloane used his art and activism to carve out spaces for expression and visibility. He helped establish, from the first Black Art Gallery in 1977, the Thupelo experimental workshop in 1985 and the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios in 1991 providing a collaborative space where artists could work freely, and in a community of like-minded folks.. Koloane also tutored at the Federation Union of Black Artists (FUBA) in 1979 and became the head of the fine art section and gallery from 1985 to 1990.

Through both his paintings and his mentorship, Ntate David championed themes of urban life, human rights, and the Black experience, helping to democratise the arts and nurture a new generation of black artists in South Africa.

Enkosi Baba, and a Sweet, Happy Heavenly Birthday!