On 4 June 2026, Purple Mountain Arts Residency celebrated its second birthday.
We could not be more proud of what we have achieved through the love and support of our beloved Porterville community; those who have travelled from far and wide to share in our vision, as well as our board of directors and, of course, our artists-in-residence.
As we reflect on the two years of our existence, we are thrilled with the amount of national media coverage we have received, the support from various funding bodies and local businesses – all of which has enabled us to roll out our programmes – as well as our anonymous patron, whose generous support has made it possible for us to get marginalised African creatives through our doors.
We are truly humbled by the support and love we have been shown, and we are very pleased with what we’ve achieved in such a short space of time. As we celebrate, we acknowledge that we are ready and looking forward to the next phase of our residency’s journey.
And as we commemorate this two year anniversary, we would like to celebrate one of the hidden features of our residency: As our residents complete their time with us, we invite them to plant a tree or plant in our garden here at Aloe House as a commemoration of the time they have spent with us. This also allows us to keep our alumni fixed in our hearts and minds as the days and months go by.
Two years ago, our very first artist-in-residence, ‘Matlali Matabane, set the trend and planted a Waterberry tree on our verge, which continues to thrive to this day. Asakhe Cuntsualana planted an indigenous Aloe Tree, as did Darion Adams. Seth Deacon (even while we nursed him to recovery after a traumatic car accident) managed to plant a Bougainvillaea! And most recently, Zimbabwean textile artist, Sandra Ndoro, planted an indigenous Rain Lily at the entrance to our driveway.
Many of our unofficial residents have also planted along the way. And, as their plants and trees grow into maturity, so too we hope Purple Mountain Arts Residency will continue to thrive.