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23 September 2020
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Story Nitha Ramnath
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Photo Supplied
UFS students will be performing at the virtual ICDF on 24 September 2020.
On 24 September 2020, South Africa will be celebrating Heritage Day. For the 25th anniversary of this celebration, South Africans are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions in the wider context of a country that belongs to all its people. Dr Chitja Twala, Vice-Dean: Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS, says: “The importance of the day is that we must celebrate who we are and learn from each other.” The University of the Free
State (UFS) has a long tradition of commemorating Heritage Day and the ideas underpinning it. One way in which the UFS celebrates and recognises the tapestry of diverse cultures represented on its campuses is through its International Cultural Diversity
Festival hosted by the Office for International Affairs. The purpose of the event is to highlight on Heritage Day that international cultural diversity is a central tenet of the UFS community.
Pursuant to the tremendous challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic globally, the International Cultural Diversity Festival will this year be celebrated in a virtual format. Even during this uncertain time, it is important to find time to celebrate
our uniqueness and to appreciate one another’s heritage and culture in the spirit of our humanity.
Date: 24 September 2020
Time: 10:00
No registration is required!
For the 2020 Heritage Month celebrations, let us share elements about ourselves that make us proud of who we are! The diverse contributions to the 2020 virtual International Cultural Diversity Festival activities will highlight the university’s commitment towards creating a diverse, challenging intellectual environment. As a research-led university, the UFS strives to provide an environment in which new ideas are incubated and debated, contributing to its transformation process and African unity.
For more information contact Bulelwa Moikwatlhai on MaloB@ufs.ac.za
Willem Boshoff’s artwork placed on Bloemfontein Campus
2011-10-21
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Students viewing the new artwork on our Bloemfontein Campus
Photo: Hannes Pieterse |
There was great excitement last week when Willem Boshoff’s Thinking Stone sculpture arrived and was installed near our Main Building. The black granite stone, which was quarried at Boschpoort Granite in Belfast, Mpumalanga, weighs approximately 20 tons and took about a year to polish to give it its burnished quality.
On the surface of the stone are engravings that resemble the prehistoric rock engravings of the Driekopseiland rock art site close to Kimberley. Added to the engravings are sandblasted inscriptions in six languages of verses and well-known quotes that refer to the word “rock”.
Willem Boshoff is one of South African’s most established artists and his artworks are deeply involved in relationships and focused on bringing about conversation. Willem describes the Thinking Stone as being “a place for gathering and sharing ideas, as universities should be”. The sculpture is a huge investment for our university and will, for many years to come, inspire thought, dialogue and contemplation.
Willem Boshoff’s sculpture is, to date, the largest of fifteen artworks commissioned by the Sculpture-on-Campus Project and funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund.