Visual Artist & Cultural Curator

Scelo Mdladla is a South African visual artist, cultural curator and creative producer whose practice explores memory, identity, culture and the stories embedded in everyday life.

His artistic journey began in 2003, when his cartoon strip was published in the children’s section of the Sunday Times. He later worked as a storyboard artist for television commercials, translating directors’ scripts and ideas into visual sequences that helped shape how stories would be brought to life on camera.

That early foundation in drawing, visual storytelling and image-making continues to inform his creative practice today. His visual art draws from familiar South African moments, personal memory and the textures of lived experience. His work includes painting, mixed-media projects and visual storytelling, with exhibitions and presentations including Tales of My City, Paper People and The Short Story series.

Alongside his studio practice, Scelo curates and hosts cultural experiences that bring people together through visual art, live music, food and conversation. He is the founder and curator of Phinda Mzala, a live music platform creating spaces for audiences to experience South African jazz, and is developing The Artist’s Table, an intimate experience connecting visual art, live music and dining. His wider cultural work includes Grassfed Jazz and Storyville Africa.

He brings more than a decade of experience in creative production and entertainment, working across concept development, directing, editing, motion graphics and visual storytelling.

His practice moves between the studio, the stage and the screen, connected by a common interest in how South African stories are seen, heard and experienced.