Oliewenhuis Art Museum

Oliewenhuis Art Museum Oliewenhuis Art Museum is an Art Museum which holds in trust an historical and contemporary art collection on behalf of the people of South Africa.

Oliewenhuis - a Neo-Dutch style mansion - was designed by William Mollison, Head Architect of the Department of Public Works and his assistant, John Stockwing Cleland in 1935. Completed in 1941, this mansion, located on Grantโ€™s Hill, served as residence for the Governor General of the Union of South Africa from 1942. In 1947, King George VI, his wife and two daughters used Oliewenhuis as residence

during their three-day visit to Bloemfontein. After the establishment of the Republic of South Africa in 1961, Oliewenhuis became the official residence for the State Presidents of South Africa during official visits to Bloemfontein. In 1972, the building was officially named Oliewenhuis, the name being derived from the abundance of wild olive trees growing on the surrounding hills. On 19 July 1985, after prolonged campaigning by the art loving citizens of Bloemfontein for an art museum, former State President P.W. Botha released the residence to the National Museum for the purpose of converting it into an art museum. Several structural alterations and adjustments had to be made to the existing building to provide a suitable environment for the conservation and exhibition of artworks. On 11 October 1989, Oliewenhuis Art Museum was officially opened as a satellite of the National Museum. The Museum boasts up-to-date technology to store and exhibit artworks in ideal climatic and security conditions. The Museum is located in one of the most magnificent gardens in the city, a large section of the property comprises natural vegetation bordering on the Museum grounds. It is the only museum of its kind in the Free State and one of the youngest art museums in the country. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is a satellite of the National Museum, Bloemfontein, an agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

โค๏ธ ๐‘๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ž. ๐‘๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง.๐‘จ ๐‘ป๐’๐’–๐’„๐’‰ ๐’๐’‡ ๐‘น๐’†๐’… marks 70 years since the historic Women's March of 9 August 195...
02/09/2026

โค๏ธ ๐‘๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ž. ๐‘๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง.

๐‘จ ๐‘ป๐’๐’–๐’„๐’‰ ๐’๐’‡ ๐‘น๐’†๐’… marks 70 years since the historic Women's March of 9 August 1956, when more than 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria in protest against the pass laws.

The exhibition reflects on the courage and determination of those women and considers how their legacy continues to resonate today.

Through historical photography and artworks, ๐‘จ ๐‘ป๐’๐’–๐’„๐’‰ ๐’๐’‡ ๐‘น๐’†๐’… honours women who have shaped our communities, celebrates those who continue to work towards a more equal society and remembers those whose voices have been silenced.

It is an exhibition about memory, resilience, courage and hope โ€” and an invitation to reflect on the world we want future generations to inherit.

๐‘จ ๐‘ป๐’๐’–๐’„๐’‰ ๐’๐’‡ ๐‘น๐’†๐’…
๐Ÿ“… On view until 10 January 2027
๐Ÿ“ 1st Floor, Main Building, Oliewenhuis Art Museum

๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ FREE museum entrance
๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ R10 parking per vehicle, cash only

๐ŸŒธ ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ, ๐’๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ! ๐ŸŒฟ๐‘พ๐’†๐’๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‡๐’Š๐’“๐’”๐’• ๐’…๐’‚๐’š ๐’๐’‡ ๐’”๐’‘๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚๐’• ๐‘ถ๐’๐’Š๐’†๐’˜๐’†๐’๐’‰๐’–๐’Š๐’” ๐‘จ๐’“๐’• ๐‘ด๐’–๐’”๐’†๐’–๐’Ž! ๐ŸŒผWith the warmer days ahead, 1 September is...
01/09/2026

๐ŸŒธ ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ, ๐’๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ! ๐ŸŒฟ

๐‘พ๐’†๐’๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‡๐’Š๐’“๐’”๐’• ๐’…๐’‚๐’š ๐’๐’‡ ๐’”๐’‘๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚๐’• ๐‘ถ๐’๐’Š๐’†๐’˜๐’†๐’๐’‰๐’–๐’Š๐’” ๐‘จ๐’“๐’• ๐‘ด๐’–๐’”๐’†๐’–๐’Ž! ๐ŸŒผ

With the warmer days ahead, 1 September is the perfect excuse to get outdoors and enjoy a day at the Museum with family and friends.

๐ŸŒฟ Take a leisurely stroll through the Sculpture Park
๐Ÿฅช Pack a picnic and relax on the lawns
๐Ÿšถ Explore the walking trails through the natural surroundings
๐ŸŽจ Spend some time discovering the exhibitions
๐ŸŽ  Let the little ones enjoy the African Carousel โ€” just R5 per ride
โ˜€๏ธ Soak up the sunshine and enjoy the beautiful grounds of Oliewenhuis

And the best part? Museum entrance is FREE! โค๏ธ

๐Ÿ“ Oliewenhuis Art Museum
16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein
โฐ Mondayโ€“Friday: 08:00โ€“17:00
๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ Parking: R10 per vehicle, cash only

๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ, ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜‚๐˜€!๐ŸŒธ

๐ŸŒŠ ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’… | ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ธ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜Thank you to everyone who joined us at Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Satur...
31/08/2026

๐ŸŒŠ ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’… | ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ธ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Saturday, 29 August 2026 for the second walkabout of ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’…, a solo exhibition by conceptual artist ๐—˜๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ฒ.

During the walkabout, Emma shared insights into her site-responsive exhibition and the ideas of memory, identity, displacement, loss and place that underpin her work. Set within the unique underground space of the Reservoir Gallery, the exhibition explores what lies beneath the surface โ€” both physically and metaphorically.

Visitors had the opportunity to engage with 101 Ways to Long for a Home, an extensive artistโ€™s book installation incorporating discarded parquet flooring, as well as Willemseโ€™s striking boat-like installations made from found and decayed makoros, handmade paper, paper pulp drawings and fabric.

๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—˜๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ป.

๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’… was on exhibition at the Reservoir Gallery from 7 July โ€“ 30 August 2026.

๐Ÿ›๏ธ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿณ๐˜๐—ต ๐—”๐—ป๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป | ๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™จOliewenhuis Art Museum was honoured to host the opening ...
31/08/2026

๐Ÿ›๏ธ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿณ๐˜๐—ต ๐—”๐—ป๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป | ๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™จ

Oliewenhuis Art Museum was honoured to host the opening of the ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿณ๐˜๐—ต ๐—”๐—ป๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™จ, featuring the work of SAVAGE + DODD Architects, the 2026 Sophia Gray laureates.

The Sophia Gray Memorial Lecture and Exhibition, presented by the School of Architecture at the University of the Free State, has been hosted annually at Oliewenhuis Art Museum since 1989. The series honours Sophia Gray, the first active professional architect in Bloemfontein and the first woman architect in South Africa, while celebrating the contribution of architecture and architects to society.

This yearโ€™s exhibition, ๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™จ, offers an opportunity to engage with the architectural thinking and practice of SAVAGE + DODD Architects.

๐Ÿ“… Exhibition: 27 August โ€“ 4 October 2026
๐Ÿ“ Venue: Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Main Building
๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ Admission: Free

We invite you to visit the exhibition and experience ๐™Ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™จ for yourself.

31/08/2026
๐ŸŒŠ ๐—™๐—œ๐—ก๐—”๐—Ÿ ๐—ช๐—˜๐—˜๐—ž๐—˜๐—ก๐—— | ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’…This is your final weekend to experience ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’…, a...
28/08/2026

๐ŸŒŠ ๐—™๐—œ๐—ก๐—”๐—Ÿ ๐—ช๐—˜๐—˜๐—ž๐—˜๐—ก๐—— | ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’…

This is your final weekend to experience ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’…, a solo exhibition by conceptual artist Emma Willemse, at Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

Presented in the unique underground Reservoir Gallery โ€” once a water storage reservoir โ€” the exhibition brings together Emma Willemseโ€™s acclaimed 101 Ways to Long for a Home artistโ€™s book installation and five large-scale boat-like installations.

Through handmade books, discarded parquet flooring, decayed makoros, handmade paper, fabric and other materials, Willemse explores memory, identity, place, longing and displacement.

๐ŸŒŠ ๐‘ซ๐’๐’'๐’• ๐’Ž๐’Š๐’”๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’‚๐’ ๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’Š๐’”๐’• ๐’˜๐’‚๐’๐’Œ๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’๐’–๐’•!

๐—๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—˜๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ.

๐Ÿ“… Saturday, 29 August 2026
โฐ 12:00
๐Ÿ“ Reservoir Gallery, Oliewenhuis Art Museum
๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ Entrance FREE

The exhibition closes on Sunday, 30 August 2026.

If you haven't experienced ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’‘๐’•๐’‰๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’†๐’‘๐’๐’š ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’… yet, this is your final opportunity.

๐Ÿ“ Oliewenhuis Art Museum
16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein

๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ Parking: R10 per vehicle (cash only)
๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ Museum entrance: FREE

๐Ÿšจ ๐…๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ง๐!This is your ๐ฅ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ to view ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’•๐’๐’†๐’”๐’”๐’†๐’”, Franli Meintjes' solo exhibition at Oliewenhuis Art Mus...
28/08/2026

๐Ÿšจ ๐…๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ง๐!

This is your ๐ฅ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ to view ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’•๐’๐’†๐’”๐’”๐’†๐’”, Franli Meintjes' solo exhibition at Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

Experience remarkable fibre installations exploring memory, place and vulnerability before the exhibition closes this Sunday.

๐Ÿ—“ ๐‚๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ : 30 August 2026
๐Ÿ“ Annex Gallery, Oliewenhuis Art Museum

๐ŸŽŸ Entrance FREE
๐Ÿš— Parking: R10 per vehicle (cash only)

๐‘ซ๐’๐’'๐’• ๐’Ž๐’Š๐’”๐’” ๐’Š๐’•.

Address

16 Harry Smith Street
Bloemfontein

Opening Hours

Monday 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 17:00
Saturday 09:00 - 16:00
Sunday 09:00 - 16:00

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Oliewenhuis Art Museum posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share