Colour can shift the feeling of a room, shape the way we experience art, and bring new meaning to the spaces we move through. This idea sits at the heart of a new collaboration between Dulux and Magugu House Cape Town.
WORDS & PHOTOS: SUPPLIED
Magugu House Cape Town brings together fashion, art, design, and cultural storytelling. For The Foreign Familiar, an exhibition featuring works by Mary Sibande and Wim Botha, Dulux supplied paint from its Dulux Trade range, designed for professional spaces across hospitality, office, healthcare and residential environments.
The exhibition looks at how inherited objects and customs change over time – how things introduced through force, exchange or gift can become part of everyday life, and eventually part of identity. Against this backdrop, the colour of the rooms matters. It is not there to compete with the work, but to hold it, frame it, and give visitors a way into the mood of the exhibition.
Mary Sibande – Exhibition Text – The Foreign Familiar.
Two matte paint shades
Two matte paint shades were selected for the space, tinted in Dulux Trade 100 Matt and given conceptual names by Thebe Magugu. Fantastic Rose [RB5] – 71RR 58/199, is titled “Mother Tongue”, while Water Rush [BB12] – 98BG 45/237 is titled “Nomvula (After Rain)”.
The names add another layer to the gallery experience. “Mother Tongue” suggests warmth, memory and the languages we inherit. “Nomvula (After Rain)” evokes renewal, openness and the quiet clarity that follows a shift in weather. Together, the colours create a setting that feels contemporary and considered, while allowing the artworks to remain the focus.
How do inherited forms change through use?
Speaking about the exhibition, Thebe Magugu says: “It began with a question: how do inherited forms change through use? Across Southern Africa, many of the objects and customs closest to us arrived through colonial encounter, often introduced as symbols of foreign authority, yet gradually absorbed into everyday life until they became inseparable from who we are. This exhibition reflects on those transformations – the lives that objects take on after they are inherited, whether through imposition, exchange or gift, and the ways they are reshaped through lived experience.”
Colour is part of how the story is encountered
Since opening, The Foreign Familiar has been met with an encouraging response. Visitors have noted the calm, welcoming atmosphere created by the palette, while Mary Sibande remarked that the blue felt perfectly suited to her exhibition.
In that context, this collaboration feels especially fitting. The paint does not simply finish the walls; it helps carry the exhibition’s ideas into the room. Colour becomes part of how the story is encountered.
“What excited us about this collaboration was the chance to see colour working in a gallery space, not just as a decorative choice, but as part of how people encounter the exhibition,” says Palesa Ramaisa, Dulux Colour Expert. “The two shades selected for Magugu House Cape Town show how colour can shift atmosphere, support artworks and create a more considered visitor experience.”
It marks the beginning of a relationship between the two, rooted in a shared interest in transformation, creativity and the role colour plays in how spaces are experienced.
The Foreign Familiar is on view at Magugu House Cape Town until 27 August 2026.
For more tips, colour inspiration and ideas on how to add pride, imagination and creativity to your home or workspace, visit the Dulux social media pages on Facebook, X, Instagram or Pinterest.
Top picture: Wim Botha at Magugu House. Images Courtesy of the Artist, Magugu House and Hayden Phipps.
Thebe Magugu Showroom at Magugu House. Images Courtesy of Magugu House and Hayden Phipps.
