Stellenbosch Triennale

04/09/2026

21/08/2026

Before the artists arrive, before the artworks take shape, before Stellenbosch becomes a meeting place for ideas – there is a lot of work to be done 💭

Following the close of , the work towards the next edition has already begun. And we want to take you behind the scenes – into the conversations, decisions and creative thinking that form a Triennale of this scale.

Right now, we’re in the process of meeting with and interviewing our next curatorial panel, searching for the combination of voices, perspectives and expertise that will help create the vision for .

Follow along as our trustees and team work together to build another immersive African art experience.

13/08/2026

From 2012 to now, SOST has brought art out of traditional gallery spaces and into the places where people live, walk, gather and connect.

Across exhibitions, public interventions, photography, ceramics, land art and the Stellenbosch Triennale, each chapter has introduced new artists, new ideas and new ways of experiencing public space.

Explore the full history, including the 113 artists and 148 artworks featured in each exhibition, at sost.co.za.

The timeline ends here. The possibilities don’t.

05/08/2026

Public art takes on a life of its own once it enters the street.

From the Decameron stoep, Hanlé Hill captured two spontaneous encounters with Frank van Reenen’s Rain Taster: one group using the sculpture as the backdrop for an impromptu photoshoot, and children gathering around it to engage and play.

The work draws on that familiar moment before rain, when the atmosphere shifts and we instinctively pause to notice. In these photographs, that pause becomes something shared, as each group finds its own way into the work.

📷 Hanlé Hill
🎨 Rain Taster by Frank van Reenen, featured in Dreamscapes: Form and space through curious eyes

In partnership with Visit Stellenbosch and proud patron Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth.

31/07/2026

The best art doesn't always begin with certainty. Sometimes, it begins with play 🎨

According to Dreamscapes artist Jess Bothma, play isn't the opposite of serious thinking – it's often where the most meaningful creative journeys begin. By trusting the process, embracing uncertainty and letting go of the need to have all the answers, new ideas have room to emerge.

In Dreamscapes, play becomes more than imagination. It invites us to hold lightness alongside depth, curiosity alongside rigour, and certainty alongside the unknown. Rather than settling into a single meaning, the artworks move between different ideas, perspectives and possibilities 💭

Perhaps that's the power of play in art. It reminds us that creativity isn't about having everything figured out – it's about staying open to discovery. When an artwork can exist in more than one world at once, it has the power to connect with more people and leave space for each of us to find our own meaning.

📍 Dreamscapes runs until 30 January 2027
🌍 Learn more at sost.co.za/exhibition/dreamscapes
🔗 View the Digital Exhibition Guide: sost.co.za/dreamscapes-exhibition-guide
In partnership with Visit Stellenbosch and proud patron Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth.

30/07/2026

What if art met you where you already are? 📍

Not only behind gallery walls, but on the streets, in the gardens and around the corners of Stellenbosch.

That is the heart of the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust (SOST) 🖤

As a non-profit organisation, we are passionate about making art accessible to everyone. Since 2012, we have worked to bridge the gap between people and places by activating public spaces through strategic placemaking, bespoke artwork commissions and innovative creative projects.

Through our outdoor exhibitions and education initiatives, we work alongside artists and local communities to use art and design as a source of connection, curiosity and meaningful shared experiences.

Over the last 13 years, more than 250 artworks by artists from South Africa, across the African continent and beyond have formed part of Stellenbosch’s story; free for everyone to encounter.

Why? Because art belongs where life happens.

🔗 Explore our exhibitions, artists and projects: https://www.sost.co.za/

24/07/2026

When was the last time you looked at something with genuine curiosity?

That's the invitation at the heart of Dreamscapes.

Set throughout the public spaces of Stellenbosch, the exhibition encourages people of all ages to experience art as more than something to simply observe. Through unexpected forms, striking scale and thoughtful materiality, each sculpture invites you to pause, ask questions and engage with the world a little differently.

Much like a child discovering something for the first time, Dreamscapes reminds us that wonder begins with curiosity – and curiosity is where imagination, creativity and new ideas take shape.

Every artwork is an expression of an idea, and every encounter is an opportunity to think beyond the obvious. In that moment, art becomes more than an object – it becomes a spark for creative and critical thinking 💭

📍 Dreamscapes runs until 30 January 2027
🌍 Learn more at sost.co.za/exhibition/dreamscapes
🔗 View the Digital Exhibition Guide: sost.co.za/dreamscapes-exhibition-guide

In partnership with Visit Stellenbosch and proud patron Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth.

13/07/2026

What happens when the small becomes monumental?

A sculpture that feels enormous in a studio can suddenly feel small once it enters the street. A familiar bird, enlarged and lifted above our heads, can make us look differently at the birds we pass every day. A blade of grass, made several metres high, can turn something ordinary into something impossible to ignore.

In Dreamscapes: Form and space through curious eyes, scale and proportion shape how we move, look and pay attention. Large, small, elevated, life-size and unexpected forms each ask something different of the viewer.

In this video, artist Ralph Borland reflects on how scale can shift perception through works such as Giant Grass and Starlings. By enlarging humble elements of the urban environment, he invites us to notice what often persists quietly around us.

Across the exhibition, this play with scale continues through works such as Rain Taster, Five Things Found and Building Block; each one reminding us that size can change not only how we see an artwork, but how we see the world around it.

📍 Dreamscapes runs until 30 January 2027.
🔗 LINK IN BIO to learn more or download the Digital Exhibition Guide.
In partnership with Visit Stellenbosch and proud patron Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth.

01/07/2026

We invited you to play - and when we play, things sometimes break.

Draadkar, the life-sized artwork by Philipstown Wirecar Foundation, was created to be experienced. It was never meant to be viewed from a distance. It drew people closer: to climb in, pose for photographs, open the doors and become part of the artwork.

And you did.

After months of joyful interaction, this much-loved work has reached the end of its journey. With care for the artwork, its makers and the public, Draadkar will now be removed.

Thank you to everyone who took Draadkar for a spin, and to Philipstown Draadkar Grand prix and Town Festival for bringing so much play into public space.

Vroom vroom, little car. Time to ride off into the sunset 🌅 🚗

📍 Dreamscapes runs until 30 January 2027 | 🔗 Learn more at sost.co.za/exhibition/dreamscapes
In partnership with Visit Stellenbosch and proud patron Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth.

23/06/2026

Can changing an artwork’s location change its meaning?
In public art, the answer is almost always yes.

A sculpture is never experienced in isolation. The moment it moves out of a gallery and into the street, it starts a new conversation with everything around it.

In Dreamscapes: Form and space through curious eyes, placement is part of the work. A sculpture on a rooftop asks to be read differently from one standing in a public square, near a church, beside a business, or under a tree.

In this video, artist Strijdom van der Merwe reflects on how public space can reshape the way we see and understand sculpture. Through his works exhibited with SOST over the years, we see how an artwork does not simply move from one place to another; its story changes with it.

📍 Dreamscapes runs until 30 January 2027.
🔗 LINK IN BIO to learn more or download the Digital Exhibition Guide.
In partnership with Visit Stellenbosch and proud patron Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth.