Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
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

Badminton players show their class
2007-06-04

Kovsie badminton players showed their class at the 2007 All African Championships held in Rose Hills, Mauritius during May, just as they did last year in Algeria.

In the individual championships in the men's double event Chris and Roelof Dednam again successfully combined for gold with a victory in the final over Steve Malcouzane and Georgie Cupidon of the Seychelles. Chris Dednam and Michelle Edwards also made the final
round in the mixed double event, but were beaten by Georgie Cupidon and Julliette Ahwan (Seychelles) to settle for a silver medal.

In the men's singles event Chris Dednam equalled last year's performance and was awarded with bronze, having lost 24-22 in the third set in the semi-finals in a marathon match against Eli Mambwe (Zambia). It was therefore once again in the men's singles where South Africa could not vest their supremacy in Africa. But, Chris improved his tally of medals to gold, silver and bronze. Roelof also showed good form by making the quarter-finals in the singles as well as the mixed doubles.

Fellow Kovsie, Wiaan Viljoen, joined the Dednam brothers and the rest of the South African team for silver in the team competition.

A week earlier, in the Mauritius International tournament, Chris won gold by winning the mixed doubles event with Michelle Edwards (against the same Georgie Cupidon and Julliette Ahwan), while the Dednam brothers had to settle for silver in the men's double event losing to Germany's Thomas Tesche and Jochen Cassel.

Chris and Roelof Dednam have qualified, because of their current position on the world ranking table, for the men's doubles in the World Badminton Championships to be played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August this year.
 

Roelof and Chris Dednam

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