"I think initially when we decided to make a project space, we wanted it to be ‘open open’. We did an open call and received many proposals and portfolios from people who had seen us on Instagram but who had never actually been to the space. And then we realised that there was something generative in tightening the exhibitions to people who actually contribute to a sense of community by being there all the time and attending exhibition openings. We like the idea of being very local and creating a tight-knit community, rather than wanting to be as big as possible and inviting big international names."
– Mitchell Gilbert Messina

Invited practitioners joined curator Khanya Mashabela in a roundtable conversation centred on artist-led project spaces and collaborative exhibition-making. The engagement formed part of Mashabela’s wider research project, Social, and took place in the Gallery during Common, extending the exhibition’s reflections on collective action and shared resources. Matthew Blackman and Ed Young (YOUNG BLACKMAN), Carol Khaas and Lebo Kekanna (FEDE), and Mitchell Gilbert Messina (Under Projects) contributed to the conversation.