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23 September 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Opening exhibition
Some of the artworks from the UFS permanent collection was on exhibition at the Johannes Stegmann Gallery.

When you visit the permanent art collection housed at the art gallery at the Centenary Complex of the University of the Free State (UFS) you will learn something new about South African culture. The 1 200 piece collection is the UFS’s effort to preserve our cultural and historical legacy with poignant works from artist such as Jackson Hlungwane, JH Pierneef, Lucas Sithole, Irma Stern and Azaria Mbatha.

The permanent collection boasts the most diverse collection of contemporary artworks in a public space at a South African university. The artworks are often loaned to significant national and international exhibitions, creating an opportunity for research, teaching and promotion of the UFS. 

The collection has been acquired by the UFS over the past 80 years and comprises paintings, sculptural works, murals, prints, photographic and ceramic works. It includes works of art pioneers from the region and other parts of the country. “The collection hosts one of the most substantial representations of art which was created in the Free State region with works by Frans Claerhout, Pauline Gutter, George Ramagage and Motseokae Klas Thibeletsa,’’ said Angela de Jesus, UFS art curator. It also houses The Human Rights Print Portfolio’ (1996), one of South African’s most significant post-apartheid print portfolios.

Angela de Jesus, UFS art curator and Prof Suzanne Human, chairperson of the UFS Arts Advisory Committee.
 Angela de Jesus, UFS art curator and Prof Suzanne Human, chairperson of the UFS Arts Advisory Committee.
(Photo: Rulanzen Martin)


Recent exhibition showcases works of sensible agendas

Some of the artworks, acquired from 2009-2019, are also currently on exhibition at the Johannes Stegmann gallery. At the opening of the exhibition on 28 August, Prof Suzanne Human, chairperson of the UFS Arts Advisory Committee said the “exhibition does not show all the works but the cohesion between the artworks reveals there is a sensible agenda and sound acquisition criteria.”

The exhibition interrogates the complexities of the reality of a free South Africa. “The UFS collection is a university collection and the works acquired are therefore of scholarly interest. Each work in the exhibition is topical in research circles,” said Prof Human. I have not, I have by Mary Sibande

The exhibition at UFS was open until 4 October 2019

Collection preserving cultural and historic identity 

Contemporary artworks which deal with relevant sociopolitical and environmental issues include works by Kim Berman, Thembinkosi Goniwe, Sam Nhlengethwa, Pippa Skotnes and Diane Victor. 
According to De Jesus the collection “provides an irreplaceable educational reserve for understanding our unique cultural and historical identity.”

“The UFS art collection promotes the importance of visual art for research, teaching, and as a vehicle for critical dialogue. Its aim is to encourage critical thinking and to be reflective of the social, cultural and political diversity of the Free State and South Africa,” she said.

Significant art projects expanded collection’s footprint


Over the years several projects were initiated to enrich the art collection to address gaps in and around the collection to encourage social justice and critical dialogue. As part of the Lotto Sculpture-on-Campus Project (2009-2012) the UFS commissioned 16 public artworks for the Bloemfontein Campus. “Through this project the UFS established the most diverse collection of contemporary artworks in a public space at a South African university, with exceptional works by Willem Boshoff, Noria    
 Mabasa, Willie Bester, Kagiso Patrick Mautloa, Brett Murray and others.” said de Jesus. 

(Picured on the right: I Have Not, I Have by Mary Sibande)


News Archive

University publishes its Integrated Report
2013-08-23

23 August 2013

The university is proud to have published an integrated report in line with the King III requirements on corporate governance. The university is one of the first universities – if not the first – in South Africa to do so. The UFS sees integrated reporting as a public process through which we report to all our stakeholders, using evidence-based data, on the achievements and challenges of a public university.

Our first Integrated Report reviews the overall performance, non-financial and financial, of the UFS for the 2012 academic year. It is the first report of its kind delivered to stakeholders and guided by the King III framework which recommends integrated, sustainable performance that is reported in a way that enables stakeholders to make an informed assessment of an institution.

The Integrated Report notes that the conditions under which higher education institutions operate have become more demanding in the last two decades and there is a growing need for universities to be more explicit and transparent about the manner in which their core functions (teaching, research and public duty), as well as its administrative operations, are defined by and support good governance, sustainability and corporate citizenship.

The university welcomes this opportunity to present in public an integrated account of itself. In particular, the UFS sees this report as an opportunity to align more strongly its financial and non-financial reporting in pursuit of organisational sustainability and social transformation in South Africa.

Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, notes in the report that in the past four years the university has made significant progress in respect of its two foundational commitments, the Academic Project and the Human Project.

There are now more students entering the university who satisfy the higher requirements set for admission. “This will improve the throughput and graduation rates of incoming students, ensuring their personal success and satisfaction with higher education.” The establishment of a state-of-the-art Postgraduate School, for example, is expected to increase the number, quality and success rates of postgraduate students.

The research output has increased steadily and the contribution of the new Senior Professors project, as well as the five research clusters, have helped to improve the quality of research and the spread of postgraduate recruitment beyond South Africa.

On transformation, the Vice-Chancellor observes that “We have made significant progress in building inclusive, democratic and embracing campus cultures which affirm the value and dignity of all students and staff. With the steady increase of black students in a majority black campus, our goal remains to retain our diversity in a university that serves as an experiment in teaching students to live and learn and love together.”

Financial sustainability is a major commitment and the UFS has not only maintained its record of unqualified audits, but has steadily built a culture of risk management and performance evaluation throughout the system. Internal auditing is a strong instrument in our arsenal to secure financial and operational compliance in every department of the university.

“What integrates the systems and functions of the university is the alignment of everything we do with our two pillars, the Academic and Human Projects, built on a solid foundation of professional support services as described in the Strategic Plan adopted in 2012. In the process of preparing the Integrated Report we discovered how much still needs to be done to align the still disparate and independent activities of the three campuses, seven faculties and more than 100 departments of this large university,” according to the Vice-Chancellor.

The report is available at: http://www.ufs.ac.za/content.aspx?id=184.

 

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