Nonhlanhla Mditshwa, also known as ‘Tigerlilly, was born in Durban, South Africa. She is creative individual with a diverse range ofinterests, including art, design, fashion, music events and lifestyle. Mditshwa is known for her ability to connect people and ideas in the creative industry, and has been a driving force in the cultural landscape of Cape Town. Mditshwa’s career in the creative industry began over a decade ago, when she started working in wardrobe for the film industry.
She quickly developed a reputation for her attention to detail and ability to manage her time well, which led to her working on a range of film and television productions. Mditshwa’s passion for art led her to pursue a career as an art practitioner.
She has worked across various mediums, including painting, sculpture, and performance art. She is particularly interested in exploring themes of identity, gender, and race, and uses her work to challenge traditional ideas and stereotypes. Mditshwa’s contributions to the creative industry have been widely recognized and celebrated.
She has been featured in numerous publications, including the Cape Times, Drum and Elle Magazine. Nonhlanhla Mditshwa, also known as ‘Tigerlilly’, is a creative force in the South African arts community. Her passion for art and her ability to connect people and ideas have made her an invaluable contributor to the creative industry in Cape Town and beyond.
Ellen Augustyn is a researcher, writer, and arts professional living and working in Cape Town. She holds a BA in Humanities and an Honours degree in Visual Studies from Stellenbosch University. With a background spanning the museum, gallery, and book industries, she has worked as a research and studio assistant at Unite Studio, where she contributed to the PLOT: Critical Zones exhibition at the Iziko Museum in 2022. She has also worked as a studio assistant for artist Isabella Kuijers and as an art researcher and writer for CME Art Advising, the sister company of ArtRoute. Her writing has been featured on the online art platform Arttrob, and she has experience as an academic editor, refining and strengthening scholarly texts.
In addition to her work in the arts, Ellen has a background in the book industry. She worked as a bookseller before transitioning into a head office role as a marketing and online assistant. Across all these roles, her expertise in research, storytelling, and visual culture has allowed her to explore the dynamic relationships between text, image, and society.
She is passionate about the intersection of art, history, and culture. Having engaged with art and literature from a wide range of cultures, she is fascinated by how different societies use storytelling to preserve history, shape identity, and challenge perspectives. She believes that books and visual art complement each other – both serving as powerful mediums for amplifying voices, deepening our understanding of the world, and fostering connections across diverse experiences. Research plays a central role in her work, allowing her to uncover hidden narratives and bring them into contemporary discourse.
Ankia Lloyd is a fine artist whose work delves into the intricate and poetic relationships between humans, animals, and the spaces they share. Through themes of mythology, childhood, liminality, and the contrasts between life and death, prey and predator, and grief and transformation, she crafts evocative narratives that explore the echoes of past experiences in present realities. Deeply inspired by nature and her lifelong bond with animals, Ankia’s practice is rooted in the belief that our surroundings shape our identities and perceptions of the fleeting world. Her symbolic storytelling bridges the emotional and philosophical, using human-animal interactions to navigate personal and collective memory.
Holding a Master’s in Visual Arts, Ankia has also trained with leading international illustrators, honing her skills in storytelling through art, children’s book illustration, and creative research. Her passion for mythology, travel, and her ancestral heritage informs much of her practice, blending technical precision with emotional resonance. When she’s not curating exhibitions or fulfilling commissions for prominent spaces such as Canal Walk and Gordon’s Bay Tourism, she works as a 3D technician and TA at Stellenbosch University. She also facilitates creative workshops through ArtRoute in the Winelands, guiding participants in reconnecting with art, nature, and their own inner narratives.
Richard Kilpert is a seasoned art fundi who comes with a balance of experience both in community-based art organisations and as a lecturer at a tertiary level. He has been actively involved in the South African art and education fields since completing his studies in the Eastern Cape, where he managed access programs and developed education resources for the Department of Education and various publishers. After three years running the printmaking department at Wits University he was appointed to run the Imagination Lab, which had five satellite center’s around the country. After moving to Cape Town with Vega School he became a curator for the World Design Capital in 2014 and ran the education program for the Cape Craft & Design Institute. His talent is in printmaking and drawing, and his passion is for making art accessible through practical activities and materials development. He joined Artroute after working for four years in the curatorial department in Zeitz MOCAA.
