permanent collections
  The Permanent Collection contains outstanding examples of South African, British, French, Dutch and Flemish art. Many leading British artists of the early 20th century are represented, including members of the New English Art Club and those of the Bloomsbury Group. A number of works by important artists such as John Walker, Michael Porter, Gary Wragg, Alan Davie and Ronald Kitaj were acquired in the 1980s. (Under-funding and the prohibitive prices of Western art have limited significant additions to these collections). At the same time, the extraordinary vitality and significance of the art which began to emerge in South Africa in the 1980s brought about a decided shift in acquisitions policy, which now concentrates on contemporary South African art.

Since 1990 one of our major tasks has been to establish a collection which acknowledges and celebrates the expressive culture of the African continent and particularly its southern regions. Having established an authoritative collection of beadwork, we have turned our attention to enriching our collection of indigenous sculpture, as well as the repatriation of artefacts which were removed from the country over the last two hundred years.