Habitat for Art & Healing
Gaya is a living, evolving space devoted to creativity, collaboration and healing. We are grounded in the belief that creativity, when shared collectively, becomes a powerful force for connection and transformation. Gaya offers a distinctive environment in which artistic practice and human experience meet with depth, care and intention.
Founded by South African artist and gallerist Shanti Govender, Gaya was created through a commitment to fostering access, community and wellbeing through art as a healing process.
Gaya continues to grow as a living project — shaped as much by the artists, healers and visitors who pass through its rooms as by the vision that founded it. Each exhibition, circle and gathering adds another layer to an evolving, collective story.
At its heart, Gaya is an invitation: to slow down, to make, to gather, and to be held — however briefly — by a space built with intention and care.
Through years of artistic research and practice, Shanti Govender developed an evolving framework rooted in four interconnected states of the creative process.
The moment attention is drawn and held — the spark that opens the creative process.
Slowing down to sit with what has been seen and felt, before it takes form.
The act of making — bringing inner life into material, visible form.
Sharing the work and the process collectively, so it becomes a force for connection.
Living dialogues between artists, space, and human restoration.
Ten distinguished women artists explore the essence of Earth, abundance, seeding change, ecology, sustainability, thriving and restoration. Presented with Madlozi Contemporary Art Gallery.
Contact us to book Gaya Habitat for Art & Healing as a beautiful venue for your upcoming event — weddings and commitment ceremonies, yoga and meditation group circles, thanksgivings, special birthday celebrations, bespoke wellness journeys, family events, seminars and team buildings.
The space includes a beautiful garden and large sun terrace, an olive garden, and elegant interior gallery spaces.
Gaya nurtures creative practice, reflection and healing. It is a place where art meets inner life, inviting slower ways of seeing, deeper listening and meaningful encounters across disciplines and practices.
""Art can be lived with, not only exhibited — a home for culture, healing and interdisciplinary exchange.""Gaya — Habitat for Art & Healing
Address: 14 Saxonwold Drive, Saxonwold, Johannesburg, 2196
Hours: Wednesday – Sunday: 10:00 – 17:00 • Mon & Tue: By appointment
Contact: hello@gayagallery.co.za • +27 (0)11 442 8900
14 Saxonwold Drive, Saxonwold, Johannesburg, 2196
