From 17 to November 2025, the Creativity for Social Change Hub together with the Moleskine Foundation, in collaboration with NIROX, hosted 11 Creativity Pioneers, local and international cultural and creative organisations, for 5 days of workshops, discussions and exchanges on creativity for social change. This programme culminated in the public event, Joburg Revival, on Friday 21 November 2025 in partnership with the Creativity Pioneer’s Fund, Anglo American Foundation, Jozi My Jozi and Maharishi Institute.
Throughout history creative and cultural spaces have offered critical interventions and spaces where young people could constructively channel and harness their anger and despair. Creativity and culture have enabled young people to take a leap of imagination in impossible times. The Joburg Revival served as a reminder that creativity and culture in a vast and storied city like Johannesburg are not just sweet sentiments but engines of life.
The Joburg Revival came at an important moment as the city prepared to host the G20 and as it moved toward next year’s hotly contested local municipality elections. It offered a timely opportunity to think deeply about the reparative and generative capacity of creativity and culture not only for a city like Johannesburg but for the world at large.
In this first edition of the Joburg Revival, local Creativity Pioneers and others from cities such as Lagos, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Bogota and New York City shared their work and its reparative and generative qualities. These Pioneers are filmmakers, poets, musicians, writers and artists who merge heart and mind, combine poetry and pragmatism and use imagination to drive impact.
Under the theme “the Living Language of Repair,” the Joburg Revival created a space where the Creativity Pioneers brought forward their abundant cultural imagination, vision and work through panel discussions and the following breakaway workshops:
- Social Consciousness and Connection Through Film by Refiloe Chiloane, Sunshine Cinema (South Africa)
- The Language Between Us by Titelope Sonuga, Lagos International Poetry Festival (Nigeria)
- Invisible Art: A Field Study on Black Literary Organisations by Lisa Willis, Cave Canem (USA)
- Food from the Block – Democratic Cities and Food Scaping by Goncalo Folgado, Locals Approach (Portugal)
The workshops were followed by a conversation on the role of philanthropy in reviving cities, between Michael Mapstone, CEO of the Anglo American Foundation, Adama Sanneh, CEO of the Moleskine Foundation and Lwando Xaso, director of the Creativity for Social Change Hub.
The closing panel under the theme “The Right to Imagination and the Right to the City” featured:
- Melusi Mhlungu – Creative Director, Jozi My Jozi
- Noluthando Mdayi – Co-CEO, Makers Valley
- Musawenkosi Cwabe – Lawyer and Legal Journalist, SERI
- Thomas Coggins – Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Wits
Moderated by journalist Dan Corder.
“The Anglo American Foundation and the Moleskine Foundation share a deep belief that creativity is one of the strongest tools young people have to understand their world and influence it. Hosting this gathering at 44 Main feels significant because the building now reflects the energy and possibility of youth. It is becoming a space where ideas grow, where imagination has room to breathe and where young people can lead with confidence.” – Michael Mapstone, CEO, Anglo American Foundation.
Creativity for Social Change Hub
Established in South Africa in 2024, the Hub supports what it calls Creativity Pioneers – creative and cultural organisations that use creative tools to address major socio economic, political and environmental challenges. The Hub is the local evolution of the global Creativity Pioneers Fund created by the Moleskine Foundation and its Coalition of Partners in 2021. It draws from the experience of building the Global Fund which includes South African partners and 19 Creativity Pioneers.
Moleskine Foundation
The Moleskine Foundation is a non profit organisation founded in Milan, Italy, with a mission of “Creativity for Social Change.” Its purpose is to inspire a new generation of creative thinkers and doers and encourage creative changemakers to transform themselves and their communities. It believes creativity is a crucial tool for generating positive impact and reducing inequalities while shaping our collective future.
Creativity Pioneers Fund
Established in 2021 by the Moleskine Foundation, the Creativity Pioneers Fund provides funding and resources to Creativity Pioneers – non profit organisations around the world addressing social and environmental issues through creativity and culture. Since inception, the Fund has supported more than 200 Creativity Pioneers across 60 countries. The Fund is collaborative, consisting of 32 partners who believe in trust based relationships and investing in the radical imaginations of Creativity Pioneers.