“Body as Sculpture” comprised of two single-day workshops with Robin Rhode, a South African artist who has been living in Berlin since 2002. This unique opportunity was provided for the recipients of the Claire & Edoardo Villa Bursary Awards 2026 (Anele Mzolo, Saskia Hertell-Moraloki, Dunsby) and for postgraduate students from the Universities of Pretoria, Wits, and Johannesurg (Marlon Lewis, Simphiew Mbusi, Katleho Habi, Caitlin le Roux, Kate Swart, Lehlohonolo Nale).

Held during the installation of Rhode’s latest exhibition, Body as Sculpture (2026) in the Villa-Legodi’s Project Space, it provided students with an intimate environment to discuss some of the central concerns of the exhibition, from the importance of play and experimentation through to Rhode’s embodied and spatial approach to art-making. To this end, it focused on the relationship between performance, embodied practice, sculpture and critical dialogue.

Each began with a presentation by Rhode on his practice and trajectory as an artist over the past two decades, where students could get firsthand insight into his methodology, which transforms walls, streets, and architectural surfaces into stages where the body is inscribed into space through movement, drawing, and photography. Similarly, participants learnt about the artist’s recent engagement with stone, translating ephemeral bodily gestures into material permanence, compressing movement, resistance, and play into depth, surface, and weight.