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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

Disaster risk management centre of the UFS serves on UN specialist committee

2015-06-26

Dr Andries Jordaan
Photo: Supplied

The Director of the Disaster Management Training and Education Centre (DiMTEC) at the University of the Free State, Dr Andries Jordaan, has been invited to serve on a UN special committee by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Dr Jordaan took part in the Expert Workshop on Climate Resilience in Geneva, Switzerland, on 22-23 June 2015.

In preparation for COP 21, which takes place later this year in Paris, the United Nations must draw up a situation report for a universal climate agreement between all the world’s nations. In order to advise the United Nations and the Secretary-General, and to prepare for the UN’s resilience initiative that will be launched during this important international gathering, a small team of approximately 20 experts and scientists from all over the world have been chosen to review the concept of the project. This group of experts will help to revise the original concept for the project.

According to Dr Jordaan, the Sectretary-General of the UN will be launching a ‘resilience initiative’ that is aimed at promoting resilience in climate-related risks.

Jordaan says it is an honour for him to represent the UFS and DiMTEC on such a specialist committee. “For me, it is recognition of the contribution we make in Africa and the world to disaster risk and climate adaptation,” he says.

DiMTEC is proud to be at the forefront of disaster management training in Africa. The centre has close ties with institutions of the United Nations, such as UNU-EHS, UNU-Flores UNOOSA, UNSPIDER, UNEASCO, UNEP, UNCCD, UNISDR and UNDP, among others.

DiMTEC strives to inform the public about disaster risk reduction through education. The centre’s master’s and post-graduate degrees in disaster management, as well as short courses and research, are of the highest standard.

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