Buoyancy & Belief: Inside a South African gallerists world with Emma van der Merwe

In this episode Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to Everard Read Cape Town Gallery Director, Emma van der Merwe from the dealer’s perspective, talking about the quiet contracts that hold the art world together — trust, instinct, and love for the work itself. In this conversation, she lifts the curtain on the energy and potential driving South Africa’s art scene, reflecting on the delicate balance between representing artists and believing in their long game — with buoyancy at the heart of it all.

Emma’s interests in the arts were given the go ahead by her parents with only one condition: that she not walk in their footsteps. And differentiate herself she did! Emma grew up in Switzerland and France, a ...