« The experience left me with life-time friends, that I consinder family now, it also opened new opportunities to me, and I am forever grateful to Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez for teaching me how to fish, instead of giving me a fish to eat ».

1st Laureante of the Undiscovered Canvas Art Residency

Giggs Kgole spent six months in France, as the 1st Laureate of the Undiscovered Canvas Art Residency, created by Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez in the South of France. Undiscovered Canvas also produced 2 solo exhibitions in Cannes and 1 solo exhibition in London. Giggs had the opportunity to realise his dream of producing his 1st ceramic collection in Vallauris, where he collaborated with two great French ceramists Chris Krainik Bellengè and Serge Dos Santos. During the residency Giggs Kgole was selected by Mail & Guardian as one of the 200 Young South Africans breaking barriers, and he is also a finalist for Young Masters Prize 2019 organized by The Cynthia Corbett Gallery in the UK.

Giggs Kgole is currently back in Rome to continue with his art studies.

Ceramic’s by Giggs Kgole made in Vallauris.

Vallauris vs Picasso

Picasso was familiar with the shores of the Mediterranean and lived in a succession of towns on the Côte d’Azur. After his stay in Antibes, and before he moved to Cannes and then Mougins, Picasso’s home was in Vallauris from 1948 to 1955. At that time he was living with Françoise Gilot and their two children, Claude and Paloma. During his time here, he produced a number of sculptures and paintings, including “War and Peace”, one of the period’s major works. Two techniques captured his imagination: ceramics and lino-cutting.