Warm greetings from a cold Johannesburg! It’s been a busy first half of the year for The Centre, at home and abroad, and the next few months are no different. 

Find out what we’ve got planned, and see what we’ve been busy with so far in 2026. 

In April, we hosted the fourth programme in our COLLATIONS series, The Maskandalification of Opera.

Curated by The Centre’s Impresario, Neo Muyanga, the project explored the genre of opera from its periphery, incubating and inspiring new experimental approaches to opera in a Southern African context.

Eight new miniature operas by South African composers were created and staged over the course of this three-day mini-festival at The Centre. 

All eight operas, as well as a HOW | Showing the Making unpacking the process of creating them, are now available to watch on our website and YouTube channel.  

In July at The Centre, we begin our first round of workshops towards Collation 5, which will focus on a series of new performative musical pieces in response to archival films, autochromes and contemporary film and photography. 

These workshops will further explore shadow theatre, and The Pepper’s Ghost on a larger scale, allowing for a full ensemble of performers and musicians to perform inside archival film and photographic material at once. 

Collation 5 will take place at The Centre from 15 to 17 October 2026. 

At the end of July, following Collation 5 workshops, The Centre will host an Open Moment focused on the experiments and findings that emerged during the process of workshopping inside of the Pepper’s Ghost and Shadow Theatre devices.

This Open Moment will take place at The Centre on Friday 31 July and will be led by The Centre’s Bronwyn Lace, William Kentridge, and Neo Muyanga. Bookings for this will open in July and will be available at www.lessgoodidea.com

In July, The Centre for the Less Good Idea partners with SAHA for a creative exchange taking place from 6th to 31st July, combining structured workshop periods with independent research time.

We are thrilled to announce the selection of Istanbul-based artists İrem Nalça and Melih Kıraç, who will be travelling to Johannesburg, South Africa, for their creative exchange at The Centre.

While in Johannesburg, Nalça and Kıraç will work with an interdisciplinary group of performers, musicians, and artists, engaging in a collaborative process that moves between research, experimentation, and collective composition.

In February 2026, the experimental opera, Selemo, debuted at Neuköllner Oper, Berlin.

A co-production with The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Komische Oper, Berlin and Neuköllner Oper, Selemo is a new chamber opera conceptualised by South African composers and performers Sbusiso Shozi and Nhlanhla Mahlangu, with musical mentorship by Neo Muyanga. READ MORE.

Also in February, The Centre for the Less Good Idea travelled to the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, Italy, for a workshop engaging the processes of its Sounding Pictures programme. 

Designed specifically for the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, Sounding Pictures took shape as an intensive workshop that involved the students of the Academy and the Conservatory of La Spezia in a collective research path. READ MORE.

In May 2026, The Centre for the Less Good Idea brought a combination of short-form film, art, and performance to the spaces of Valdemars Slot, Denmark.

From 4 May 2026, The Centre’s co-founder & director, Bronwyn Lace, the Impresario, Neo Muyanga and three invited South African performers – Anathi Conjwa, Micca Manganye, and Thulani Chauke – embarked on a creative research residency. READ MORE.

On Friday 20 February, the South African jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and singer-songwriter Thandi Ntuli opened her HOW | Showing the Making by performing a hymn written by her grandfather, Levi Godlib Ntuli. 

Ntuli grew up in a household filled with music, where singing was a collective and communal act, present at church and during family gatherings. This was an environment she was born into – her journey as a musician started well before she began playing classical piano at the age of four. WATCH NTULI’S HOW | SHOWING THE MAKING.

On Friday 20 March 2026, The Centre for the Less Good Idea presented The Open Moment | Venus in Four Acts with scholar, curator, and critic Tiffany E. Barber; poet and performer Lebogang Mashile; and musician and performer Ann Masina.

Together with musicians Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu, Nosipho Qhayiso, Mapule Moloi, Vhahangwele Moopo, and Larissa Johnson, this Open Moment follows a four-day workshop at The Centre, exploring notions and representations of the body in opera, Black feminisms, institutional critique, and the ethics of looking. WATCH THE OPEN MOMENT | VENUS IN FOUR ACTS.

Building on TÊTE-À-TÊTE’s original premise of connecting industry professionals with artists, offering advice and guidance, TÊTE-À-TÊTE | ARTISTS TO PRODUCERS is a dedicated programme for a cohort of 10 professional, independent artists looking to produce and identify staging opportunities and platforms for their existing work.

Curated by Momenteur of the SO Academy, Athena Mazarakis, the programme is designed to assist independent artists in becoming producers of their own work. READ MORE ABOUT TÊTE-À-TÊTE | ARTISTS TO PRODUCERS.

AVAILABLE ONLINE SOON

Keep an eye on our website and social media for our recent Open Moments for Thinking In Photography and Thinking In Explosion of a Memory.

Keep up to date with The Centre’s tours, performances and open calls by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on social media.

Photo credits: Image 3 by Davy Denke. Image 6 by Jan Windszus. Image 7 by Marcus Neustetter. Image 8 by David Stjernholm. All other images by Zivanai Matangi.