While we’re waiting for all your applications ✨ we felt a bit nostalgic, here’s a look back at our 2025 recipient of the the LGBTQIA+ studio exchange award @dustinxiii Dustin August.
Applications are at the link in our bio
Call closes on the 24th of May at 23:59 pm
YEAR OF THE HORSE_ I just prefer Chinese New Year as the official start to my year. For this year I thought it would be fun to merge the year of the horse with my star sign, Sagittarius...it kinda felt synchronous to me..🐎
#yearofthehorse #sagittarius #mahindraartsearch
We’re thrilled with how the artist market turned out at Victoria Yards! A huge thank you to everyone who came out to support our talented August House artists. Your support means the world to us. Congrats to all the artists who made sales - well done! Here’s a sneak peek of the market’s energy in our first 30 minutes. Thanks again for being part of it! #AugustHouse #ArtistMarket #VictoriaYards
@alpheusngoepe@aushie_art@thamsangamfuphiart@rozmak__@dela_nan@dustinxiii@_ch.an.tal@victoria_yards@devolutionery_
An amazing exhibition opening for “Stories in Paris” by artists @nicolabouwerart and @dustinxiii last week Thursday. The exhibition runs until 2 November, so do not miss these beautiful works at the Alliance Française de Pretoria. We are open Monday-Thurs 08:30-19:00 or Fri and Sat 08:30-12:00. #artexibition #pretoria #artworks
In conversation with Dustin August @dustinxiii at @contra.joburg
Dustin’s work celebrates the LGBTQIA community, creating spaces to celebrate masculinity, being Queer and softness.
#ContraJoburg
#PeoplesChoice
This Saturday as part of the @contra.joburg Art Fair I will present a solo showcase at the @RandClub . The presentation covers work exploring my ongoing relationship with paper, layering and queer identity. It will also be another glorious act of taking up space. The history of the Club speaks to an exclusive experience typically reserved for men, but with this showcase I become an active participant in reshaping it's story. In this act I am reminded of my mission and excited to take up space.
I'm excited to be part of @wereld_sa KLEIN WERELD Art Fair.
I have 2 relief sculptures that I made especially for the exhibition at the art fair this weekend,18-20 July, at @rosemary_hill_farm
There will be more than 400 artworks on display by more than 100 South African artists and so much more!!
From Penguin to Poster: The Story Behind the Face of FAME Shorts 🎬
Meet @dustinxiii , the self-taught, multidisciplinary artist whose bold design was chosen as the official poster for the FAME Shorts Film Festival.
Inspired by the image of a penguin protecting its young, Dustin reimagined this resilient bird as a guardian of storytelling—swapping the chick for a film reel to symbolise the cultural power of cinema. 🐧🎞️
“The beauty of storytelling is that it lets us imagine alternate possibilities,” he says. “This poster isn’t just a design—it’s a tribute to both natural and cultural conservation.”
His minimalist black-and-white style speaks volumes, and his message is clear: African stories are strong, rooted, and ready to take the global stage. 🌍
✨ This is how we make Africa FAMEous.
🐧 WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT 🐧
We’re thrilled to reveal the official poster for the FAME Shorts Film Festival 2025, happening 4–6 September at the iconic Labia Theatre in Cape Town!
Congratulations to the incredibly talented Dustin August @dustinxiii , winner of this year’s poster competition, presented in collaboration with our awesome partner @yesdefinitelyyes .
Dustin’s design reimagines the penguin as a protector and observer — a striking symbol of storytelling and conservation. With bold simplicity and meaning, his artwork reminds us of the power of stories to protect, connect, and inspire.
Stay tuned — the official film selections will be announced soon!
Dustin August’s work is a study in process—an exploration of layering, transparency, and assertion. Rooted in traditional printmaking techniques like screen printing and lithography, his approach deconstructs the final image, suspending it in a state between resolution and evolution. Each layer is deliberate, yet fluid, allowing meaning to shift and settle over time.
Colour, gesture, and space are not just compositional tools but acts of resistance. Black lines cut through softness, anchoring form, while pink—a recurring motif—demands attention, disrupts expectation, and reclaims presence. It is both playful and political, a visual insistence that queer identities are not only visible but integral.
The Male, Formed situates the queer and trans masculine body within the subversive yet predominantly hyper-masculine culture of skateboarding. Here, the skateboard becomes a site of reclamation—an insistence on space, movement, and recognition. Through this interplay of process and identity, August’s work operates as both resistance and reconstruction, unsettling fixed narratives and expanding the possibilities of representation.
#MotionAndExpression #TheSpaceInBetween #OriginArt #CrispySkateboards #ContemporaryArt
