Meet the Team
Ame Bell
Gallery Director
Amé Bell is the Director of David Krut Projects (DKP) in Parkwood which consists of two galleries, a bookstore, framing and other production-related activities. Aside from her management skills, Bell is an accomplished art curator and designer of art books.
Amé Bell began working at DKP in 2013. As the Director, she is responsible for all projects and operations regarding galleries and art fair exhibition programmes, local and international sales, initiating projects in the print workshop and the direction of all gallery and bookstore staff in administration, sales, communications, framing and venue projects. She operates across all locations and is based between the Projects Gallery at 142 Jan Smuts Avenue and the wonderful Blue House at 151 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood.
Amé works closely with the team of printers at the David Krut Workshop (DKW), which is located at Arts on Main, Maboneng Precinct, in the inner city of Johannesburg. She connects young artists to DKW, allowing them to gain collaborative editioning experience by working with the team of printers. The media promotion and selling of the art created at DKW is a major responsibility of Bell and her Parkwood team. Ame still works closely with Master Printer Jillian Ross, who formerly directed DKW.
Amé has made visits to the New York associate David Krut Fine Art, Inc., which has an art project space in the Chelsea Art District alongside the famous Highline. She provides ongoing support to their exhibition program, and the promotion of artists from Africa abroad. In addition, Amé was appointed as the curator for the 2022 South African Pavilion at La Biennale Arte in Venice.
What I love most about what we do is working directly with artists, learning about them and their creative processes and maintaining a relationship in order to support their long-term careers as artists. Also, without a doubt, working alongside a team of inspiring individuals from whom there is so much to be learnt, and supporting careers in the arts in even the smallest way, has been an unbelievable privilege.
Amé Bell was born in Johannesburg in 1988 and completed a Master’s Degree in Art History at the North-West University in Potchefstroom in 2012. Bell further holds diplomas in Graphic Design and Project Management, and is currently persuing her PhD in Art History at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Nomazitah Ngwenya
Gallery Admin and Archive Team
Nomazitah Ngwenya began working at the David Krut Projects in 2010 as an assistant (or clean hands) to the printers in the Print Workshop. Her role at DKP developed into archivist, administrator and all-rounder – logistics, sales, dealing with clients, shipping, packing.
Currently Noma Ngwenya works at the 151 Blue House in the Gallery and Archive. She has extensive knowledge of how works were created and should be archived from her time in the print workshop. She is an excellent person to liaise with clients and hangs works/shows.
Noma values meeting and working with different artists and people from different parts of the worlds. She says:
You get to see the baby being born (art being made) and the nurturing of that baby. All those stages are so fascinating and sometimes they really work when trying to sell the art piece to clients because you can relate and tell the story of how it was made. I love this about having the DKW because you talk about the things that you see everyday and you get to engage with the artists, and they let you into their world.
A special memory that stands out for me, is the time that Siphiwe (Ncube) and myself, where given the task to plan and execute Senzo (Shabangu’s) show in 2011. We were still new, but we pulled it off and it was a success. I am still proud of myself.
Noma Ngwenya was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 1983. She studied Electrical Engineering specialising in light power. She left Zimbabwe in 2006.
Innocentia Mthunzi
Books and Accounts Administrator
Innocentia Mthunzi is the Books administrator and school liaison at David Krut Bookstores. Originally from Vereeniging, Innocentia has been a member of the David Krut team for the last ten years.
What she loves about her job is being a jack of all trades, learning about art and interacting with interesting artists from South Africa and abroad. When asked about the best part of her job, she answered
I love being surrounded by books. I also love the school visitations that I do because this gives me a chance to showcase the knowledge that I have to the teachers and this boosts my confidence.
Innocentia’s favourite memory is the time the team went to see Steven Spielberg’s War Horse at Monte Casino.
