b'WHAT ISAW IN Gomolemo Tibane(Right) ElectricK hozas evocative works on THE WATERpaper, featuring alternatively washy, vibrant or sombre violinist Kirsty Bowscolours that bleed, drift and performs at the Opening of the WHAT I SAW INdrip, convey the immediacy of his visual THE WATER exhibition atlanguage, which oscillates fluidly between Chiesa di Pazzo Lupi in Melville, Johannesburg. figuration and abstraction. Very much an Image: Theana Breugem iconic artist of his time, Khozas aim is to give (Below) Guests atform to the translucency of deep feeling. first-ever BASA Awards pop-up exhibition. His works intuitively and spontaneouslyImage: Theana Breugem typically working on multiple pieces at oncerendering dreamlike imagery in an array of media from gouache to acrylic to pixels on a tablet.Audrey Lisik van Zyl received her first commission from BASA to interpret the first 21 days of lockdown through a collection of illustrations, 10 of which are on show in this exhibition. Her digital watercolour works reflect various arts and creative disciplines. Illustrations labelled with Scene explore a tool, an environment, or an element from an artists discipline and plays with scale to emphasize the importance of their careers and how nervous they became for their livelihoods as lockdown commenced. The artist, depicted small in the scene to represent feelings of being overwhelmed and filled with anxiety, seems to be isolated whilst showing and living their loneliness, highlighting their fears of being marginalised in an overwhelming time of the then-unknown future. Other works are lighter and more endearing in sentiment following this first take. The artworks labelled with People show the different artists in their homes, with their families, pets, and talent, but all within their craft and insecurities. In an ever-changing world, the arts guide us as a beacon ofThese cannot help but show the optimism, resilience, and perseverance of our South hope, encouraging reflection, reimagining, and reinvention.African artists.Since 2022, BASA and the Industrial DevelopmentMariapaola McGurk, herself a triple BASA Award winner under the auspices of Corporation (IDC) have partnered on a range of projectsher work at The Coloured Cube, holds an designed and curated to facilitate the exposure of emergingHonours cum laude in Visual Arts from the University of Johannesburg and an Executive artists and to support entrepreneurs within South AfricasMBA from Henley Business School. Her creative economy. Drawing inspiration from the spirit ofchosen form is paper cutting. 2022, the year that she was commissioned by BASA, was a connection, mutability, and the organic nature of a cultureparticularly difficult one, as South Africans in flux and emergence, WHAT I SAW IN THE WATER was afaced fluctuating levels of COVID lockdowns, riots, increasing economic uncertainty and pop-up group exhibition featuring the works of Audrey Lisikbig questions about the future. Despite van Zyl, Mariapaola McGurk and Banele Khoza. this, the partnerships recognised in 2022 persevered to maintain and produce astonishing and important work. The works 33'