Latitudes Podcast

In this final episode of season two, Refiloe Mpakanyane speaks to Carla and Pieter Schulting, Dutch collectors whose journey into contemporary African art has grown into a 350+ artwork collection representing all 54 countries on the continent.
They share how one encounter with an Ethiopian artist sparked an unexpected pivot in their collecting life, eventually leading to Africa Supernova, the blockbuster exhibition at Kunsthal KAdE that drew tens of thousands of visitors and helped introduce new audiences to contemporary African art.
At various points in the conversation, Carla and Pieter explore their mission to share the Schulting Art Collection with the world; the important role that art plays in their lives; as well as how they nurture relationships with the artists whose works are part of their collection.
Carla and Pieter are earnest and inspiring when talking about the custodial role they play in looking after their collection for “future generations”.

Highlights Include:
· How curiosity became a mission to amplify African artists globally
· ⁠The realities of caring for and living with a large art collection
· Why supporting young, emerging artists matters
· The relationships they build with artists – and how they offer guidance
· How Instagram unexpectedly expanded the visibility of their collection
· What it means to act as patrons, not just collectors

Referenced exhibitions & institutions:
· Africa Supernova
· Kunsthal KAdE
· Afriart Gallery
· BMW Art Magazine
· Azu Nwagbogu
· Agnes Wanguru

Chapter 4 (Insights from the Collectors) spans episodes 9-11 of Season 2 of the Latitudes Podcast. It takes a closer look at art collecting as both a cultural and financial practice. Featuring collectors, gallerists, and market experts, this chapter explores the nuances of taste, market influence, and the evolving role of collectors.

Powered by iTOO Artinsure
Supported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)
Co-curated by Art School Africa
Hosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane

On this episode of the Latitudes Podcast, Refiloe Mpakanyane is joined by Justin Naylor and Carel Nolte. Justin is the CEO of iTOO ArtInsure (sponsors of the Latitudes Podcast) and Carel is the Chief Enablement Officer of EasyEquities. Both are ardent wine and art collectors whose interests have blended with their work as well.

This conversation gives an insurer’s perspective on the enduring appeal of art and most importantly how to protect one’s portfolio. Underpinned by a decades-long friendship that started in the workplace, Justin and Carel’s observations on investing & collectibles are filled with friendly banter as well as much talk of wine, friendship and family.

The abiding theme is appreciating how much the creative industries contribute to society.

Highlights Include:

Friendship and the importance of family
The power of art and artists: why artists move society forward
The iTOO ArtInsure stolen art directory
The power of marketing internally to grow and support the African art value chain
Collecting as a long term investment

Referenced exhibitions & institutions:
Art Basel UBS Report 2025
Vladimir Tretchikoff
William Kentridge
EasyEquities

Chapter 4 (Insights from the Collectors) spans episodes 9-11 of Season 2 of the Latitudes Podcast. It takes a closer look at art collecting as both a cultural and financial practice. Featuring collectors, gallerists, and market experts, this chapter explores the nuances of taste, market influence, and the evolving role of collectors.

Powered by iTOO Artinsure
Supported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)
Co-curated by Art School Africa
Hosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane

Buoyancy & Belief: Inside a South African gallerists world with Emma van der Merwe

In this episode Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to Everard Read Cape Town Gallery Director, Emma van der Merwe from the dealer’s perspective, talking about the quiet contracts that hold the art world together — trust, instinct, and love for the work itself. In this conversation, she lifts the curtain on the energy and potential driving South Africa’s art scene, reflecting on the delicate balance between representing artists and believing in their long game — with buoyancy at the heart of it all.
Emma’s interests in the arts were given the go ahead by her parents with only one condition: that she not walk in their footsteps. And differentiate herself she did! Emma grew up in Switzerland and France, and studied her Bachelors and Masters in Fine Art - at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, before completing a Master’s in Art Management at City University, also in London.
In this conversation she talks about how Slade gave her access to mentors, teachers and institutions that gave her nothing short of a ‘privileged start’. Even while this same start in the London Arts scene involved no hand holding or indeed involved no blueprint to growth or success.
In 2011 Emma joined the SMAC Art Gallery as its curator when its Cape Town doors were opened. Her next notable move was in July 2014 when Emma joined Everard Read Gallery Cape Town, as their Head Curator. In July 2018 she became a Director of the Gallery.

Emma talks at length about the energy, potential and allure of South Africa’s art industry which continue to enthral newcomers to our shores.

The conversation runs the gamut of nurturing artistic talent; best practice for representing artists; as well as Emma’s insights on forging and maintaining relationships with buyers. Emma also weighs in on collector trends and gives her take on their importance.

In sharing what she knows for sure - Emma comes up with a few slogans to live and work by: The vibes have got to be right!

Highlights Include:
Studying at Slade and being mentored by DamePhyllida Barlow
Starting out in the London art scenes and working at blue chip Galleries
Getting to work with the likes of Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor Wood and Jenny Saville (among so many others)
Deciding to come to South Africa and why the Cape Town ecosystem is compelling
The key to artist and collector relationships

Referenced exhibitions & institutions:
 Slade School of Fine Art
Goldsmiths
St Martins
White Cube
Gagosian
Ruth Proust
Everard Read
Brett Seiler
Chapter 4 (Insights from Collectors) spans episodes 9-11 of Season 2 of the Latitudes Podcast. It takes a closer look at art collecting as both a cultural and financial practice. Featuring collectors, gallerists, and market experts, this chapter explores the nuances of taste, market influence, and the evolving role of collectors.

Powered by iTOO Artinsure
Supported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)
Co-curated by Art School Africa
Hosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane

What does it mean to be an art critic today, in a world where attention is shrinking and art is increasingly filtered through the scroll?
Writer and curator Antwaun Sargent has spent the past 15 years championing and critically engaging Black artists, producing vital writing that has reshaped how contemporary art is understood and valued. In this episode, Sargent reflects on the shifting role of the art critic in a world shaped by algorithms, attention economies, and new global audiences. In conversation with Refiloe Mpakanyane, Sargent speaks candidly about the expansion of the critic’s role, the rise of new cultural voices outside institutions, the power and problem of visibility, and why the work of sustaining artistic ecosystems goes far beyond the market.
In this episode, we discuss:
How the role of the art critic has expanded beyond traditional media
The impact of social platforms on the way we experience and talk about art
The rise of new, trusted cultural voices outside institutional networks
Why visibility matters for artistic recognition and critical engagement
The evolution of Black representation in galleries and museums globally
The difference between selling art and sustaining artistic practice
What it means to build ecosystems, not just audiences
How collectors, curators and writers shape cultural legacy
Chapter 3 of the Latitudes Podcast explores Art Criticism in the Age of the Algorithm.
This chapter brings together writers, critics, and art professionals to examine the evolving landscape of contemporary art criticism and its new means of communication. Art writers have long played a pivotal role in steering conversations within the art world, but as their platforms and methods of communication shift, so too does the depth and scope of their influence.
Powered by iTOO Artinsure
Supported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)
Co-curated by Art School Africa
Hosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane

On this episode of the Latitudes Podcast, Refiloe Mpakanyane is joined by Heba El Kayal. Heba is a curator, consultant, writer and researcher, originally from Cairo with networks in the Middle East, North Africa, The UK and the USA.
With a Master's degree in Art History from Columbia University in New York, Heba is the former Chief Curatorial Consultant at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town and recently joined Strauss & Co's Advisory Board in 2024. She has held advisory roles to collectors, auction houses and art institutions in Beirut, Dubai, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the USA.
In our conversation, we focus on how technological connectivity informs art writing and criticism; how identity can inform process and meaning-making. The conversation is underpinned by Heba's thoughtful account of her own journey into and through a dynamic African art landscape.
Highlights Include:
Her journey into art writing and the challenges of lack of documentation
Curating the 2019 exhibition “Speaking Across Mountains”
Identity, art and making meaning: how they intertwine and inform each other
Referenced exhibitions & institutions:
The New Art Exchange: “The Work of Ibrahim Ahmed” by Heba El Kayal
Havana Biennal
 “Interview with Kurdish Art Exhibition Curator, Hebel Kayal.” An episode of the Kurdistan In America podcast
“Speaking Across Mountains: Kurdish Artists in Dialogue” exhibition curated by Heba El Kayal at The Middle East Institute
The Painted Protest: How politics destroyed contemporary art by Dean Kissick on Harper’s Bazaar
“A round up of the 12th Investec Cape Town Art Fair”, A review by Nkgopoleng Moloi on Artthrob
Chapter 3 (Art Criticism in the Age of the Algorithm) spans episodes 7-9 of Season 2 of the Latitudes Podcast. It brings together writers, critics, and art professionals to examine the evolving landscape of contemporary art criticism and its new means of communication. Art writers have long played a pivotal role in steering conversations within the art world, but as their platforms and methods of communication shift, so too does the depth and scope of their influence.
Powered by iTOO Artinsure
Supported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)
Co-curated by Art School Africa
Hosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane