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Prof Nico Luwes honoured with Gerhard Beukes Prize for drama

01 June 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Stephen Collett

Prof Nico read more — Prof Nico Luwes at the 2019 June Chancellor's Dinner.

It is a double honour for Prof Nico Luwes, emeritus professor at the University of the Free State (UFS), who received both the Gerhard Beukes Prize and the Medal of Honour for Drama from the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns. Not only is the prize a great honour, but also the fact that Prof Luwes could attend the Afrikaans class of the same Prof Gerhard Beukes as a student at the UFS.

“For this very reason – and because it was unexpected – it is really a great honour for which I am deeply grateful,” says Prof Luwes, who is currently working in the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts. Prof Luwes is a leading figure in local and national theatre circles and has written many plays. “I was able to realise myself at the UFS for so many years. I am also grateful that the university and the Department of Drama and its staff have given me and fellow artists so many opportunities to create in our excellent theatres.”

Prof Luwes retired as Head of Department at the end of 2019 and is currently a research fellow in the same department. He is also working on a PhD in creative writing in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the UFS, under the guidance of Prof Henning Pieterse. “I am also cleaning up two novels that will hopefully be published this year,” he says.

Prof Luwes part of several theatre initiatives

Over the years, Prof Luwes has been involved in various initiatives for the well-being and survival of the theatre industry, such as the Sanlam theatre initiative and the UFS Department of Drama and Theatre Arts’ Free State Theatre Acts. “The Sanlam theatre initiative was devised by me and Rudie van Rensburg. The project has been able to boost the careers of professional playwrights and students for years.” Drama and Theatre Arts students from the UFS dominated the Sanlam project “with many awards for plays and producing”.

The Free State Theatre Acts (FACTS) was launched with great financial support from the Lottery and has kept theatre going and created jobs in the Free State for many years.

The therapeutic function of theatre

For Prof Luwes, theatre is the barometer of a people’s soul. He refers to the therapeutic function of theatre as “the surgeon who reveals and cuts out evil, the court jester who mocks the ridiculous and falsehoods, the comfort of the heart that proves that we are all created with weaknesses, but can also taste the joys of life and the beauty thereof.”

He summarises it as the thoughts of the man in the street being conceived, experienced, and recreated by theatre artists on behalf of those who are unable to express and realise it themselves. Prof Luwes’ advice to emerging playwrights is simple: “Write about your experiences and feelings and never try to write like someone else. Trust your intuition and be willing to place your name and thinking on the altar of other people’s opinions in public.”

The Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns announced its awards on 21 May 2020. The official presentation will take place at a later stage.

News Archive

Launch of the Africa office of the IIDE

2006-05-25

Attending the launch of the Africa office of the IIDE were from the left Prof Sytse Strijbos (Chairperson of IIDE Europe), Rev Kiepie Jaftha (Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS) and Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS).

Attending the launch were from the left Prof Lucius Botes (Director: Centre of Development Support at the UFS), Dr Samuel Kareithi (Head: Community Development at the Cornerstone Christian College, Cape Town), Rev Kiepie Jaftha (Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS), Prof Sytse Strijbos (Chairperson of IIDE Europe) and Dr Ezekiel Moraka (Vice-Rector: Student Affairs at the UFS).

Africa office of IIDE launched on UFS main campus

The Africa office of the International Institute for Development and Ethics (IIDE) was today (26 May 2006) launched on the Main Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.

“The IIDE specialises in the studying and research of general questions of developmental theory and practices and provides services and support in education, strategic planning, policy formulation, advocacy and capacity building of development agencies,” said Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS.

According to Rev Jaftha the IIDE in Africa will focus on the conceptual and normative aspects of developmental processes in Sub-Saharan Africa. “We want to foster local and international partnerships with various relevant role-players in civil society, the private sector and public sector in the SACD region and later expand our operations to the rest of Africa,” said Rev Jaftha.

The IIDE in Africa cooperates with a similar foundation in Europe, functioning as the IIDE Europe. This institute was founded in 2003 and its head office is situated in the Netherlands. The UFS is a funder of the IIDE in Africa together with the Paul Foundation and private sponsors from the Netherlands.

“We have already started with various projects which are in various stages of implementation,” said Rev Jaftha. Some of these projects include, among others, the broadening of the master’s degree in Christian Studies of Science and Society (MACSSS) which is currently housed at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam to tertiary institutions in South Africa such as the UFS, the University of Stellenbosch and the Potchefstroom Campus of the Northwest University.

“Another project is an investigation into the possibility of initiating a broad development initiative in the poverty stricken Qwaqwa area. This initiative will attempt to concentrate on issues like the training and empowerment of prospective entrepreneurs in the region, the identification of prospective entrepreneurs for the rendering of development support and the monitoring of the impact of information and communication technology on local communities during the implementation of sustainable development initiatives,” said Rev Jaftha.

“The establishment of the Africa office of the IIDE on the UFS Main Campus is an indication of one of the aims of the UFS to play a role in South Africa and Africa. It also signifies our aim to contribute meaningfully to research and development and to establish links between the academe and practice,” said Rev Jaftha.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
26 May 2006

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