THE TEAM


BIOGRAPHIES

Marcus Neustetter and Stephen Hobbs

Stephen Hobbs
Co-founder and Director

Since 1994, Johannesburg has served as a critical reference point for Hobbs’ artistic and curatorial insights into the – apartheid city turned African city – with a particular interest in the impact of defensive urban planning and architecture on the behavioural aspects of city and society. The resultant urban decay that develops in such conditions evolved Hobbs’ practice into consultative processes on the role of art in public space relative to urban renewal and place making initiatives commissioned by the city.

Stephen Hobbs graduated from Wits University with a BAFA, in 1994. He was the curator of the Market Theatre Galleries (Johannesburg) from 1994 to 2000, Co-Director of the purpose-built Gallery Premises (2004-2008) at the Joburg Theatre. Since 2004 Hobbs co-produced a range of multi-medium urban and network-focused projects with Marcus Neustetter, under the collaborative name Hobbs/Neustetter. From 2016-2019 Hobbs joined the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg, as Unit Leader and resident critic. For the past 10 years Hobbs has worked in close collaboration with David Krut Projects SA/USA, realising numerous print portfolios, book projects, international lecture tours and exhibitions both home and abroad.
At the end of 2019, Hobbs relocated to Ireland with the aim of expanding the Trinity Session abroad. Luckily Hobbs’ favourite colour is green, because there’s lots of that there!


Marcus Neustetter
Co- founder and Director
 
Marcus Neustetter (1976, Johannesburg) earned his undergraduate and Masters Degree in Fine Arts (2001) from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Interested in cross-disciplinary practice, site-specificity, socially engaged interventions and the intersection of art and activism, Neustetter has produced projects, performances and installations across Africa, Europe, America and Asia that search for a balance between poetic form and asking critical questions.
He is the co-director of The Trinity Session since 2001, and since late 2019 he has made the transition to live between Johannesburg and Vienna, Austria. 

Neustetter’s medium of choice is drawing, he prefers spicy foods, and his favourite activities are anything to do with play!


Pauline Borton
Senior Project Manager

Pauline was born in 1985 and lives in Johannesburg. She obtained her Honours in Visual Arts from UNISA, with her research founded in concepts that explore construction of social space, including the role of the imagination in defining and affirming a sense of belonging and identity. Borton is the senior project manager for The Trinity Session and manages the curation and coordination of The Trinity Session’s public art/place-making projects in South Africa. Borton sees placemaking through art as an adventure, and she is the explorer that gets to journey through the city. She enjoys problem solving and developing creative strategies. Her favourite part of the job is working with different people day to day, and getting to know them.

She feels that you can’t work in Joburg and not be open to working with diverse people. Borton believes that creativity has the power to change the world, in that it’s a different mode of communication that should be explored more as it breaks down barriers and boundaries.

She argues that what makes Trinity Session special is that we do our work with a lot of heart and soul, that we genuinely care about every person we meet along the way. She likes green apples, and flowers- specifically sunflowers. Borton collects memories and patterns- which usually end up taking the form of earrings. Or scarves.


Tammy Palesa Stewart
Project Manager

Tammy was born in 1992 in Johannesburg, and has been fascinated with the intricacies of this city for as long as she can remember.

In 2014, she graduated with a BA Fine Arts from Wits Universtiy, and went on to work in numerous arts organizations. This fueled her interest in the sector, and she went on to complete an MA in Cultural Policy and Management from Wits University in 2018, with a focus on arts education advocacy. Stewart has experience working across a range of disciplines, such as arts and culture, heritage, tourism, and gallery and museum practice. Her work interrogates alternative models of arts education, what it means to be an artist, and how to occupy diverse social spaces.

You can easily get into her good books if you bring some sweets and biscuits- provided that they are not packaged in plastic as she is on a mission to save the turtles!


Ciara Struwig
Project Manager

Ciara was born in Johannesburg and completed her MA in Fine Arts at Wits University. She has since produced several exhibitions and projects, managing artists productions and realising large scale art and design installations.

Her interest area revolves around the ideas of traces, the transience of identity, and evidentiary practices that have led to artworks and installations in various media. She is living proof that you can survive solely on coffee and the occasional M&M, and her hobbies include collecting weird stuff that she doesn’t really have a use for.


Paul Setate
Studio Manager

Paul was born in the small town of Gwanda in Matabeleland, South Zimbabwe. For the past decade he has worked with various fabrication, design, and art companies. As a result, he is skilled in designing objects, prototyping, and manufacturing artworks for artists in various materials. His speciality is working in wood and steel. Paul loves spending time playing football with his two young sons. He loves veggies but hates coffee!


Lavinia Williams-Otto
Project Assistant

Williams-Otto first became associated with #ArtMyJozi through the community workshops in Noordgesig. She soon went on to became a site manager, admin clerk, and mural artist in her own right. Through her experience in working with The Trinity Session, she learnt various technical skills and started her own business in Noordgesig, doing signwriting and murals. She is interested in growing in the art industry and developing more confidence in her skills and abilities. Her biggest dream is to be able to transform, inspire, and make a difference in society.

Williams-Otto believes in restoring self-worth to the broken hearted in her community because there is so much strength and potential.