A new temporary art gallery in Riverside Mall, opened on September 18, brings local artists together to showcase their artwork.

This initiative was led by Xania Erasmus, who noticed that one of the shops next to Woolworths and Mr Price was unoccupied. Erasmus arranged to meet with the mall’s management and asked if they could use it as a temporary gallery until the space is rented.

“It is difficult for artists to share work at markets. We want to encourage amateur artists to make use of the space while it’s available to showcase their work,” Erasmus said.

Local artist Matthew Koster is the first to exhibit at the new venue. His artworks will be on display for a month, after which other artists will have the exciting opportunity to showcase their pieces.

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“Riverside was kind enough to let us use the space and support our mission to expose the Mbombela community to our art, since there isn’t a gallery in town,” Koster shared.

His collection is called ‘The boys are blue and the girls are burning up’. He exhibited at this year’s Innibos festival and has painted murals for well-known restaurants such as Cicada and Mixolo’G.

His exhibition is available to view Wednesdays to Sundays between 10:00 and 15:00 until mid-October.

Koster added that they also plan to host figure drawing classes at the gallery.

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Visitors to the gallery can also purchase prints from other local artists such as Megan Venohr, Janine Steyn, Xania Erasmus, Toni McLagan and Marietha van de Venter.