OUR STORY

Makwande is isiXhosa for "let them grow" or "may they multiply". Prints themselves are multiples, so the name carries a double meaning.

“One Print at a Time.”

A student-owned print enterprise supporting fine art students to exhibit and sell their hand-printed work.

Makwande was started informally in 2022 and established in 2023 by Linde Kriel and Sebotse Selamulela at the University of the Free State, because students' prints were ending up in drawers with no way to sell them.

Every print in the collection was made by a student, every sale benefits that student directly, and Makwande curates by the work, not by reputation.

Makwande teaches students professional basics, from contracts and preparing work to marketing, alongside selling. Commission is kept low through digital catalogues and by not outsourcing.

“It is not about presenting student artists as future artists. It is about recognising them as artists now.”

“If a print can multiply, perhaps opportunity can multiply too.”

“A print is made to move. It can be held, collected, exchanged, exhibited, reproduced and encountered by someone who was never present when it was made.”

“Student works are not simply finished objects. They are records of learning.”

Linde Kriel, curator