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An all-women art exhibition with a poignant message

27 August 2021 | Story Angela de Jesus and Rulanzen Martin | Photo Artwork courtesy of UNISA Art Collection

Folds and Faults: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture, and Heritage.

Arts copy
(Gwenneth Miller, Folds, Assumed abundance, 2019, Oil on canvas, 91,5 x 183 cm.)

The Johannes Stegmann gallery at the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with Curate.A.Space, is proud to present Folds and Faults: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture, and Heritage. The exhibition is a tribute to courageous women through the works of an all-female artist group.

Carol Brown, Zinhle Khumalo from Curate.A.Space, and Angela de Jesus curated the exhibition, which will run virtually as well as at the Stegmann Gallery in the Sasol Library on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

Details:
18 August 2021-17 September 2021
Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery, Sasol Library, University of the Free State.

“The theme of folds has many layers – as a fold itself implies. Fabric is what immediately comes to mind, but the action of folding can take too many levels. This exhibition explores these complexities.”

Background:

The exhibition features artworks by women artists in particular – a second generation of female artists whose mothers were part of the era when the historic 1956 Women’s March in Pretoria chanted the song, Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo (You strike a woman, you strike a rock).

Looking back on those dark years of apartheid, we remember how women were disenfranchised and disempowered. There were only a few black female artists, and the protest art made at the time was mostly by men. The women were the caregivers who took care of domestic issues and were the nurturers of the future generations whose work is now featured in this exhibition.

SELLOANE MOETI, Bayeza, 2019, Oil and clay on canvas, 140 x 90cm

ALKA DASS, Buttery spring flowers wither with time, 2020, Digital print on Hahnemühle paper, 14 x 14cm

GWENNETH MILLER, Folds, Assumed abundance, 2019, Oil on canvas, 91.5 x 183cm, Artwork courtesy of UNISA Art Collection

WILMA CRUISE, Monument to the Women of South Africa, Malibongwe Embokodweni, Amphitheatre at Union Buildings, Pretoria, South Africa, Architect: Marcus Holmes, Photographed by Adam Cruise

SANELISIWE NKONYANE, Kuhlonipha I AM Woman, 2019, Digital print on archival paper, 84.1 x 59.4cm, Artwork courtesy of Guns & Rain Art

MARY SIBANDE, I have not, I have, 2010, Digital print, 110 x 80 cm, University of the Free State Art Collection

News Archive

Pres Steyn turns pink in anticipation of Vryfees

2014-06-06

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Live streaming

Australian artist Cigdem Aydemir vacuum packed the Pres Steyn monument on the Bloemfontein Campus’s Red Plain – in pink. Aydemir’s project, ‘Plastic Histories’, forms part of a public art project that encourages us to evaluate public monuments in their historical context.

By vacuum packing monuments, Aydemir alludes to their significance and preservation. At the same time, though, it reveals the nature of their contentious and gendered historical function. This is because most monuments in post-colonial countries typically celebrate men’s achievements in serving their nations.

In response, this project acknowledges the contribution of women from all races, communities and sexual orientations to the grand narrative of a post-apartheid South Africa.

Aydemir is also developing an app in collaboration with Australian artist Warren Armstrong. This will be used for augmented reality viewing of three city monuments – those of President Brand, General De Wet and General Hertzog. This means that visitors will be able to hold a smart phone or iPad in front of the monuments and view the monuments as if vacuum packed in pink plastic.

In conjunction with the public art project there will be an exhibition of digitally manipulated photographs of nineteen-century and contemporary male monuments in Bloemfontein. These photos will be exhibited at the Johannes Stegmann Gallery at the UFS Sasol Library from 15 July – 1 August 2014.

Public tours on the Bloemfontein Campus and into the city will take place on:

• Tuesday 15 July at 11:00,
• Wednesday 16 July at 14:00, and
• Saturday 19 July at 11:00.

Aydemir’s ‘Plastic Histories’ public art project is part of the UFS Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD) and the Vryfees arts festival’s partnership with the Australian-based SituateArt in Festivals initiative. This partnership is managed by the Salamanca Arts Centre in Tasmania.