Meet collector Kefiloe Siwisa, featured in The Faces of RMB Latitudes 2026

Añadido: 2026-05-07

[00:00:02]So there's a conflict for me around collecting, right?

[00:00:05]Because there’s like a thing around consuming that I'm always trying to fight.

[00:00:09]But I also really love beautiful things.

[00:00:11]And so I'm always trying to collect work that I feel is connected to the person.

[00:00:18]I try and create relationships with artists, or connect to their story, or connect to just part of their practice in a more meaningful way.

[00:00:31]My name is Kefiloe Siwisa.

[00:00:33]I'm a cultural worker.

[00:00:35]I work in the curatorial space, public programming, and I run a queer music festival called Queertopia.

[00:00:44]You're in my apartment right now, [laughs] Surrounded by incredible trees and birdsong.

[00:00:55]I've always just grown up in a home that's super colourful and filled with a lot of art and creativity.

[00:01:03]And so that's the kind of space I've always wanted to create for myself as well.

[00:01:08]It's a little bit of everything, really.

[00:01:09]Some work I started collecting from artists straight out of university.

[00:01:15]Some people I've met along the way through my journey as a curator and others, you know, I've seen the work online, and I wanted to find a way to support artists that I really love within the budget that I have.

[00:01:29]And so that's how it began, really.

[00:01:31]When I wanted to buy work that I felt like I couldn't affort.

[00:01:35]I you know, enlisted the help of my community.

[00:01:39]So I called my sister and I said, hey, do you want to go halvies?

[00:01:41]Or I called my parents and I said, I really love this work, I think that we should invest in this particular work as a family.

[00:01:50]I think that collecting can be a communal practice, and it's something really beautiful, when you share work with other people that can then travel around to those people's homes and live a very different life and be part of different conversations and be exposed to new audiences purely by collaborating and connecting with other people to acquire work.

[00:02:13]Yeah.

[00:02:17]I mean, I think that value is implicit.

[00:02:20]These are valuable items, but it's how you perceive value.

[00:02:24]And for me, the first point is really about finding something I love and something that I connect with, of course.

[00:02:32]But as I grow I also want to build like my assets.

[00:02:35]And so, I find that I want to create a balance with that.

[00:02:39]And even if initially I'm not buying it because I think I'm going to sell this work and it's going to make me money, but I do want to feel as though I believe in the artist's practice, and I believe that they, that they're kind of committed to developing a practice beyond just making the work.

[00:02:56]And there's a commitment there that you can feel.

[00:02:58]It's like an intuitive thing for me.

[00:03:00]I can feel like, oh this person is really passionate about their work.

[00:03:04]They passionate about the the world building of their practice.

[00:03:08]And so that's something that I buy into.

[00:03:12]What I'm looking forward to at RMB Latitudes Art Fair this year, are the special projects.

[00:03:18]And this year as well, I want to focus a lot on trying to connect with more artists as well in that space.

[00:03:26]So I'm more than anything not just about seeing the art, but also connecting with the artists that are there.

[00:03:36]It's important to have transparent conversations with both the artists and the gallerists about what works for you.

[00:03:42]Yeah, payment plans are available, you know talking to artists about when you might be able to pay for a work and whether they're happy to hold the work for you for that time.

[00:03:52]And also starting, you know, where you can.

[00:03:56]Sometimes you can't afford a painting, so look at prints.

[00:04:00]There are prints available that are really beautiful and worth investing in.

[00:04:05]There are drawings and, you know, sketches or preparatory work around a practice that you can collect.

[00:04:14]So there are different ways. Yeah, definitely.