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23 March 2018 Photo Supplied
Student Interactive Session ignites creative passion
Luca Dimoon performs a heartfelt rendition of his music

Son of a Sicilian painter and double-bass player, Luca Dimoon was born on 22 August 1982 in Milan, Italy. He was exposed to the arts from the tender age of three, when he began drawing while jazz music echoed in his home. It wasn’t until he heard the music of Michael Jackson that he felt inspired to start singing and at the age of 8 he joined the local church choir. This led to a lifelong career in music as a multi-instrumentalist. This is a short profile of the musical genius who caressed the piano keys as part of the Arts and Culture Student Interactive Session (ACSIS) on the Bloemfontein campus on 2 March 2018.
 
In other activities students and members of the public spoke their hearts and minds at the ACSIS that took place at the Abraham Fischer Cafeteria. They gathered in a circle to embrace and acknowledge one another intellectually and artistically and an individual from the audience would volunteer, walk up to the middle of the circle and speak on a topic of his or her choice.
 
Students such as former SRC Media and Marketing, Refilwe Motsumi took to the stage and reflected openly about the personal difficulties she had encountered at university. “It ignited the beginning of my journey to self-discovery,” she said.

Philemon, widely known as FYA, gave a rendition of one of his own musical items, explaining that his artistic journey began on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus when he entered a national rap competition. The competition was centred on South African universities and the importance of studying where he represented the UFS and won in 2016.
 
The rest of the night saw amazing musical performances from House Kagiso students and Luca.
 
“The Student Interactive Session is a platform for students to be themselves, and we want to urge them to be a part of more student-based initiatives,” said Head of Arts and Culture, Student Affairs, Angelo Mockie.
 
For more information about future events in Student Affairs: Arts and Culture, contact Angelo Mockie on MockieSMA@ufs.ac.za .

News Archive

UFS Faculty of Theology hosts expert on African Traditional Religion (ATR)
2016-05-20

Description: African Traditional Religion  Tags: African Traditional Religion

Dr Nokuzola Mndende, Prof Fanie Snyman (Dean of the Faculty of Theology), and Dr Luvuyo Ntombana (Department Head: Religion Studies)

Dr Nokuzola Mndende, an acclaimed theologian, researcher, and practitioner of African Traditional Religion (ATR), is often called upon in the media to offer her expert opinion or participate in interfaith panel discussions. Thanks to an initiative from the postgraduate diploma class in the Faculty of Theology and the efforts of Dr Luvuyo Ntombana (Department Head: Religion Studies; Faculty of Theology), Dr Mndende accepted an invitation to present her paper, “From the periphery to the centre: African Traditional Religion in a democratic state”, on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). In his opening remarks, Dr Ntombana stated that he was heartened by his students’ desire to be “co-workers in knowledge production” by engaging with Dr Mndende.

Dr Mndende’s contention is that African Traditional Religion (ATR) was suppressed throughout colonial times, and, despite a 22-year-old democracy, continues to be moved to “beyond the periphery” by what she terms “spiritual subsets”; those who strive to amalgamate their African Traditional Religion rituals with the practices of Christianity. Quoting statistics from a 1995 survey by the SABC, she stated that ATR is a minority in its birthplace (with only 5% representation), and posed the question: “If ATR is a minority in its place of birth, where is it a majority?” Her presentation put forward the need to study and interpret ATR introspectively, but acknowledged that more “homework” would be needed in this regard.

Dr Mndende thanked the university, Dr Ntombana, and the Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Prof Fanie Snyman, for inviting her, and expressed a desire for the relationship with the UFS to continue.

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