NWU Gallery Presents FloraVenus: Her Woven Metamorphosis
- Karen Scheepers
- Aug 21
- 2 min read
The NWU Gallery on the Potchefstroom Campus is hosting a new exhibition titled FloraVenus: Her Woven Metamorphosis. Running from 13 August to 26 September 2025, the exhibition explores themes of feminine duality, ancestral wisdom, and corporeal transformation. The showcase is curated by Joy Dayile and co-curated by Sandro Trapani.
Concept and Inspiration
The exhibition draws inspiration from the Roman goddesses Flora and Venus. Flora, goddess of spring, embodies growth, renewal, and cycles of vitality, while Venus represents love, beauty, agency, and transformation. Rather than existing in opposition, these archetypes are presented in harmony, weaving together myth, memory, and identity.
Artistic Narrative
Through textile art and storytelling, the exhibition stages the interplay of softness and strength, rootedness and volatility, nourishment and allure. Weaving serves as both medium and metaphor, symbolising connection across generations and the tension between delicacy and resilience. Central to the display is the exploration of the feminine body in its biological, emotional, and social dimensions.
Philosophical Context
The exhibition engages with reflections from voices such as Simone de Beauvoir, presenting womanhood as paradoxical, celebrated yet scrutinised, empowered yet policed. By invoking mythological and ancestral figures, FloraVenus creates a space where viewers can encounter transformation as both personal and collective experience.
Venue Details
The exhibition takes place at the NWU Gallery, located in Building F16G, 11 Hoffman Street, Potchefstroom. Visitors can identify the venue by its grey structure with a red roof. Attendance is by RSVP via gallery@nwu.ac.za.
Contact Information
NWU Gallery
Tel: (018) 299 4341
Email: gallery@nwu.ac.za
Closing Note
FloraVenus: Her Woven Metamorphosis is more than an exhibition, it is an invitation to step into a woven garden of myth, identity, and transformation. By uniting ancestral memory with contemporary artistry, it offers viewers a moment of reflection on the enduring power of the feminine spirit and the threads that connect past, present, and future.
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