To Us! Celebrating the Launch of Myself & Us
By: Kgomotso Tsotetsi (Associate Curator: Editorial & Research)
Originally Published: 22 October 2026
Johannesburg, 10 October 2026 — NUMXN debuted Myself & Us during Design Week JHB 2026 at A42 House: Museum for Creative Repair in Parktown North, bringing together conversation, creative expression and participation around the ways we understand ourselves and one another.
Rooted in a familiar childhood exercise:
“Myself.
Myself.
My name is… I am … years old.
I live in…
When I grow up I want to be…”
Myself & Us revisits one of our earliest acts of self-expression. What begins as a simple introduction becomes an invitation to consider how our identities evolve, how our experiences shape us and how the people and places around us become part of the stories we tell about ourselves.
The debut brought these ideas into conversation through an exhibition curated by NUMXN, featuring creative responses from members of the NUMXN team, alongside a panel discussion exploring the ideas and experiences behind the project. Guests were also invited to participate within the exhibition, contributing their own perspectives to an evolving conversation about identity, aspiration, belonging and becoming.
The Myself & Us Conversation featured NUMXN co-founders Tshifhiwa Itai Ratshiungo and Bonolo Mokoena, alongside Sunshine Motsepa and Kgomotso Tsotetsi. Reflecting on their contributions to the Myself Project, the panellists explored what the experience revealed about their individual creative practices and personal histories.
The discussion then moved towards the collective, considering how different perspectives shape the communities we build and how platforms like NUMXN can create space for new conversations in art, culture and creative practice.
At its heart, Myself & Us asks us to return to a question we have been answering throughout our lives: Who am I and who am I becoming? But it also reminds us that the answer is never formed in isolation. Our stories are shaped in relation to others, making the journey from “myself” to “us” an ongoing one.
The debut of Myself & Us marked the beginning of this conversation and an invitation to keep telling, questioning and reimagining the stories that make us who we are.
To continue the conversation beyond the exhibition, audiences can explore the individual Myself Project contributions created by members of the NUMXN team and watch The Making of Us, a behind-the-scenes documentary offering insight into the people and processes that brought Myself & Us to life. Both are available online through Numen of Story: Myself & Us.
