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06 February 2018 Photo Rhona Klopper
First-years embrace UFS welcoming celebrations
Students assemble for the first-years’ welcoming ceremony.
The first-years’ welcoming ceremony at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) inspired hope among the crowd of students and parents that gathered in front of the Main Building for the evening.


The ceremony, which took place on Saturday 3 February 2018, began with a thrilling dance performance that enlivened the audience immediately. It was followed by eager cheers and chants by the various residences that attended the event in numbers. First-years enjoyed themselves as they got the chance to meet and engage with their peers as each residence had a stall setup in front of the main building.

“It is here where you will learn not just about your degree, but also about society,” were the words of Bloemfontein Campus SRC President, Asive Dlanjwa. Dlanjwa as the first official speaker for the night, did what he is well known for, which is to assemble, unite, and instil confidence among the students.

“Your degree is only as effective as the lives it changes,” Dlanjwa said.

The Dean of Student Affairs, Pura Mgolombane, said: “The university’s main objective is creating and humanising students.” He urged them to look around and see the beauty and diversity of Kovsies, and learn from it.

“To know the University of the Free State
is to understand the heart of its core,
and particular set of values,
where those values
inform our decisions
and govern our behaviour.”
—Prof Francis Petersen

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, concluded by urging first-year students to always ask questions, challenge themselves, argue their points of view, and wrestle with the complex issues of the day in order for them to reach new frontiers in both their academic and personal lives.

“You have the freedom to decide who exactly you want to be. Don’t lose yourself while you’re here,” Prof Petersen said, closing affirmations before the Gateway concert got under way.

News Archive

Free State Receives R7 Million Grant from the Mellon Foundation for Arts Innovation
2015-11-30


Man in the Green Blanket, Lesiba Mabitsela.
Photo: Karla Benade

Bloemfontein will experience a flood of new, experimental art over the next four years as a result of R7 million that has been received to develop experimental art projects in central South Africa. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation recently awarded the grant to the University of the Free State (UFS) for the Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD). Initiated jointly by the UFS and the Vrystaat Arts Festival in 2014, PIAD was established as a programme to promote the exploration of the arts to advance interdisciplinary research and to impact on human development.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a New York-based, non-profit organisation which endeavours to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing, and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies.

“The Innovation in Artform Development initiative will provide an important contribution to the ways in which the university hopes to broaden and deepen research and dialogue about the humanities in South African society. Using the arts as a vehicle to engage communities around issues of social significance, makes for an exciting endeavour, and we are happy to have Mellon’s financial and partnership investment in this initiative,” said Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

“This substantial support from the Foundation will play a pivotal role in facilitating collaborations with national and international artists to explore new, innovative modes of artistic practice and creative production in South Africa,” said Angela de Jesus, UFS Art Curator and Co-Director of PIAD.

“A series of First Nations projects, arts/science research and artist residencies, arts laboratories for creative practitioners, the production of exciting new work for Bloemfontein, and critical debates/forums is expected over the next few years,” she added.

PIAD focuses on supporting cross-cultural, experimental art programmes that can assist South African society creatively. For this process, PIAD is engaging the skills and expertise of South Africa artists in collaboration with several international partners, who are recognised as global leaders in this field, to develop a mutually- beneficial programme of engagement.  

Innovation, technology, and new forms of art will be explored and international collaborations that have the potential to attract benefits for the creative industries in Bloemfontein and beyond will be introduced.

“The artistic landscape of the Free State - in fact the whole South Africa - will be forever changed because of this extraordinarily generous grant. Rarely does a regional community get a chance to lead innovation on a national scale, and also impact on experimental art internationally. We are in for an incredible artistic journey,” said Dr Ricardo Peach, Director of the Vrystaat Arts Festival and Co-Director of PIAD.

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