The launch of The Standard Bank Art Lab
Standard Bank is proud to announce the launch of The Standard Bank Art Lab, a new visual arts space located at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton City. The ArtLab is positioned as a space for collaboration, experimentation, and creativity.
Margaret Nienaber, Standard Bank’s Group Chief Operating Officer, says, "For over four decades, Standard Bank has proudly supported the arts, a commitment deeply rooted in our purpose: ‘Africa is our home, we drive her growth.’ The launch of the Standard Bank Art Lab marks an exciting extension of our arts portfolio – which includes the Standard Bank Gallery and Corporate Art Collection, the Standard Bank African Art Collection (jointly owned with Wits Art Museum), The National Arts Festival and Standard Bank Young Artists Awards.
“We’re thrilled to present this contemporary art exhibition at Sandton City, part of our Liberty2Degrees property portfolio. This space is designed to foster collaboration among artists, clients, and the wider community, all in support of a thriving creative economy,” adds Nienaber.
Founded in 1862 to support the booming wool trade of the Eastern Cape, Standard Bank Group’s early operations were closely tied to the textures, economies, and movements of textiles. What began as financial infrastructure for agricultural exchange evolved into a broader commitment to the networks of production and expression that define culture today.
Woven into the group’s ethos, the premise of the inaugural exhibition theme, “Follow the Blue Thread: It’s Woven Into Who We Are”, is an exhibition that celebrates the transformative power of African art through the medium of tapestry. Woven from mohair and realised through collaborations between artists and master weavers, the works reflect a longstanding connection between the textile and visual arts and as an extension, between commerce, craft, and culture.
Dr Same Mdluli, Standard Bank Curator and Gallery Manager, says, “Featuring works by Penny Siopis, Judith Mason, Sam Nhlengethwa, William Kentridge, and Miriam Ndebele, the exhibition reimagines the corporate collection not as static archive but as a living resource. In doing so, it asks vital questions: What cultural memory do collections preserve? Whose stories do they tell? And how might they contribute to the creative economies of tomorrow?”
While the Standard Bank Art Lab is located within a commercial district, it invites unexpected intersections—where art meets fashion, where music and movement collide, and where analogue craft exists alongside digital storytelling.
In this hybrid space, new audiences, spontaneous encounters, and moments of resonance take place. The Standard Bank Art Lab is a space that values curiosity over convention, and community over exclusivity - a space where legacy meets possibility.