TUT lecturer receives national arts honour for memory-inspired installation

Mellaney Roberts, lecturer in the Department of Fine and Studio Arts in the Tshwane University of Technology's (TUT) Faculty of Arts and Design, has received national recognition after winning the Outstanding Visual Artist Award at the 2026 National Arts and Culture Awards (NACA).

The Ancestor, earthenware, glaze, oxide and fibre, 2m x 2m installation, 2025. The award was presented at a gala event hosted by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture at Sun City on 21 August and celebrates excellence across South Africa's arts, culture and heritage sectors.

Presented under the theme Celebrating Our Nation's Creative Excellence the awards recognise outstanding artistic achievement, innovation and contribution to the country's creative economy and cultural landscape.

Roberts received the award for Waar Bloed Nie Loop Nie, a body of work comprising four interconnected installations: The Ancestor connected to the Nestlings: The Inheritance, Echoes in the Reeds and What the Land Remembers. The work explores themes of memory, belonging, ancestry and identity, drawing on Roberts' personal experiences and her connection to the Baviaanskloof Coloured community in the Karoo.

This body of work arises from an open-ended question, said Roberts.

Mellaney Roberts at the NACA 2026 at Sun City. “The making begins with contemplating my lineage, my ancestral knowledge and ultimately my becoming. Through the work, I explore themes of home, identity, land, heritage and the collective memory of the Baviaanskloof Coloured community. These sculptures and installations build on an earlier body of work, wherein I explore the intersection of the tangible and the intangible memories that bind me to the Baviaanskloof. I explore the absence and silence of the lost and forgotten voices in shaping presence and meaning. I draw from their fragmented histories, memories and untold stories.

“In this body of work, I am the artist yet also archaeologist. I am a community member in search of an answer. Clay, as my predominant medium, is sacred and personal; it plays an important role in capturing memory. It is a transformative material through which I construct complex narratives, embodying both permanence and fragility, much like memory.

“Through clay, I engage with the layers of history embedded in the land and its people. I explore a sense of belonging and the spaces held by ancestral bloodlines, excavating cultural ties long forgotten. This work invites viewers to navigate these metaphorical spaces. Like the blood of the Baviaanskloof, clay shapes my sense of being”

Nestlings: The inheritance, beer-fired earthenware, sand, gold leaf and fibre, 3.7m x 90cm wall installation, 2025. Asked wat this national recognition means to her, Roberts said: “Being the winner of the Outstanding Visual Arts Award for Waar Bloed Nie Loop Nie is an incredibly meaningful moment for me.

“This body of work is deeply rooted in memory, identity, belonging and the histories carried by the land and by generations of people from the Baviaanskloof Coloured community. Through ceramics, I have been exploring how memory can be held, remade and given form.

To have this work recognised through a nomination is an honour not only for me as an artist, but also for the stories, histories and voices that inform the work.

Waar bloed nie loop nie is ultimately about what remains when histories are fragmented, when memories are carried forward and when we ask: What does the land remember and what do we choose to remember?

I am deeply grateful for this recognition and proud to be the winner.”

In congratulating Roberts, Prof Nalini Moodley, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design, said: “This is a remarkable achievement and a fitting recognition of Roberts’ exceptional artistic contribution, creativity and commitment to the visual arts. We are immensely proud of this well-deserved national recognition and celebrate this significant milestone with her. We hope that this achievement will lead to many more accomplishments in her artistic journey and we do hope that our students will be inspired by her commitment to her discipline. This is a singular honour for the Faculty and we delight in offering her our warmest congratulations on receiving the award.”

What the Land Remembers, earthenware, copper, mirror and red sand, 1.8m x 1m, 2025. Roberts' latest accolade adds to an impressive list of achievements. Earlier this year, Echoes in the Reeds earned her the prestigious RDC Art Collection Award at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. Her work has also been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Ceramics Brussels Art Fair in Belgium, the Turbine Art Fair and RMB Latitudes.

The national recognition is particularly significant given the stature of the National Arts and Culture Awards. Established to celebrate individuals, organisations and collectives making meaningful contributions to South Africa's creative and cultural sectors, the awards recognise excellence across disciplines ranging from visual arts and heritage to design, performance, film, literature and digital content.

Roberts was amongst a distinguished group of nominees in the Outstanding Visual Artist category, which also included TUT Fine Arts alumnus Michael Selekane.

TUT was further represented at the awards through Honorary Doctor David Tlale, who received the award for Outstanding Fashion/Textile Designer.

Echoes in the Reeds, earthenware, Perspex, copper wire, copper tubes and Oregon pine wood, 4 panels, 4.8m x 60cm, 2025.