Exporting SA Art

Meet NOMAZA NONGQUNGA COUPEZ, 36, a curator and events coordinator who showcases Mzansi art in France.

- Sisonke Labase

Art curator and events coordinator Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez started her company, Undiscovered Canvas, after she migrated to Europe and saw how people in the south of France loved the arts and cultures of foreign lands.

“In 2010, South Africa did an exchange programme with France,and that year saw dance groups, singing and art exhibitions happening in both countries. People from all over the world visited the south of France, especially the elite. I wanted to use art as a tool to teach the French about our culture,” she says. Nomaza followed an unusual path into the art world. “I was born in Ngqeleniin Eastern Cape, but my father had to move for work. So I grew up in Free State, near Bloemfontein, and studied biomedical technology at the Central University of Technology.