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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. 

News Archive

UFS researchers discover the many uses of the cactus pear
2015-02-17

UFS researchers discover the many uses of the cactus pear

For many South Africans, the dry, arid areas in many parts of the country became synonymous with cactus pear growing at random in the natural veld. For some the fruit of a cactus pear, if chilled really well, is a delicious snack on a hot summer’s day. But few actually know that these cacti can be money growing wild in the veld.

For the past 15 years, scientists  at the University of the Free State (UFS) have been looking into the benefits and many uses of the cactus pear. This project  has grown steadily in vision and dimension, and today the UFS is recognised as a world-leading institution in the world conducting multi-disciplinary research on spineless cactus pear.

Dr Maryna de Wit, from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, together with Prof Wijnand Swart from the Department of Plant Sciences and Prof HO de Waal from the Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences, determined the nutritional and, more importantly, the commercial and viable uses of the cactus pear.

The aspect of human consumption is now giving the cactus pear the status of ‘superfood’.

Dr De Wit and her team have successfully made various products using either the cactus pear fruit, the cladode (also referred to as the leaf) and the mucilage (the sticky liquid  in the cladode).

Some of these products are:

  • flour for baking carrot cake, biscuits and health breads
  • jam, fruit juice and canned fruit
  • sweets – marshmallows and Turkish delight
  • stir-fry, salads and other cooked dishes.

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