Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
24 May 2018 Photo Supplied
UFS alumnus wins National Liberty Radio Award - Thabang Moselane
At the Liberty Radio Awards, Thabang Moselane winner in the Night-Time Show category.

“When I started studying at the University of the Free State in 2015, I told myself I would not be an ordinary student. I knew the university offered many opportunities and I intended to take advantage of that,” says Thabang. The young radio personality, Thabang Moselane hails from a small town called Christiana in the North West. He is the recent winner of the Liberty Radio Award in the night-time show category.
 
“I still cannot explain how I felt when I was announced as the winner, happiness is an understatement. Winning this award is a recognition of my talent and efforts to change and impact lives of many people through the medium,” he said. Thabang is a Media Studies and Journalism graduate from the UFS and is currently studying his Honours degree in Film and Visual Media. “The university through Kovsie FM made it possible for me to develop and get experience,” added the award winner.

The UFS alumnus started his career in radio at Kovsie FM and later joined an online publication called The Journalist as a contributing writer. He now works at OFM where he hosts ‘A touch of Thabang’, the award winning show. “The show is quite unusual, it reflects my personality. It is a show for the people, about the people and the conversations are never light-hearted,” he said.
 
Asked what drew him to radio, Thabang said with a chuckle, “I have always wanted to be a psychologist but one morning five years ago, I woke up and told my mother I wanted to be a star. I believe my love for interacting and engaging with people drew me to radio.”
Apart from radio and writing, Thabang is also a motivational speaker, MC at events and an aspiring businessman.

News Archive

Lottery grant will boost public art at UFS
2009-05-25

 
 Public art at the UFS will get a major boost with money made available by the National Lottery Board. Here are Dr Ivan van Rooyen, Director: UFS Marketing, Ms Nontombi Ntakakaze (Artists in School Project) and Mr Ben Botma (Head of Department: Fine Arts) at one of the existing works of art by Edoardo Villa on the Bloemfontein Campus. 
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar.
Emerging and established artists will showcase their work in a comprehensive public sculpture project on the campuses of the University of the Free State (UFS). The aim is to create a greater understanding of cultural differences and promote the UFS vision of a truly multilingual, non-sexist, non-racial campus, says Dr Ivan van Rooyen, Director: UFS Marketing.

The National Lottery Board has approved a grant of R4,125 million in total for three major projects, one of which is the public sculpture project. The others are a Khoe-San Early Learning Centre pilot project in Heidedal, and a boost for the Artists in Schools project, which is already underway.

Dr Van Rooyen says one way of promoting the UFS vision is to create an alternative environment and provide visible, tangible symbols of change and transformation. This will enrich the educational and cultural experience of students and visitors to the campus by stimulating intercultural dialogue and providing a setting for historical dialogue between past and future.

The dream of the UFS is to inspire a sense of ownership of the campus of an open university, worthy of a democratic South Africa. “Therefore, a large-scale project of national significance has been conceptualised, where the development of infrastructure will involve the creation and acquisition of major South African art works for the long-term benefit of all South Africans,” Dr Van Rooyen says.

The public sculpture project will be implemented over the next few years. Artists will be commissioned as funds become available. The UFS will also consult extensively with local and national art museums with experience in the public art field. A wide spectrum of artists, especially artists from the black community, will be used.

Dr Van Rooyen says that many black artists have not had an opportunity to exhibit public sculptures because of prohibitive costs and the project will empower them to develop their skills. The project makes provision for both established and emerging artists to showcase their work.

The aim of the Khoe-San Early Learning Centre pilot project is to compile a curriculum that is sensitive to multiculturalism and multilingualism. The centre will be the first in the country and will respond to the need to promote and revitalise Khoe-San languages. Using arts and crafts and storytelling, as well as literacy, numeracy and life skills, children will learn to adapt to their environment and contribute to our diverse society. This centre will be a collaborative venture between the Heidedal community and the UFS.

Finally, the Artists in Schools project, which has been running successfully since 2004, will also receive a boost from the Lottery funding. Through a series of workshops that the Department of Fine Arts presents at schools, participants develop functional art products with a distinctive Free State character. These products are marketed and sold to benefit the artists, designers and craftspeople.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
25 May 2009
 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept