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19 January 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo UFS Art Collection
Lucas Sithole, I won’t stop crying (detail), 1987, Iron wood, 70 x 58 x 33cm.

 

Click here to view the online exhibition 

Recent times have brought much uncertainty but one aspect of our modern life which remains a constant is our art. For the past 80 years the art collection at the University of the Free State (UFS) has been a significant aspect for research, teaching and cultural heritage. The current online exhibition called Something Contemporary is testament to that endurance and is open until the end of January 2021.


The exhibition is curated by Angela de Jesus, Assistant Director of the Johannes Stegmann Gallery at the UFS, and artist Teboho Mokhothu, and includes prominent artworks by renowned South African artists. “Noteworthy are the artworks Terra Incognita (1990) by Penny Siopis and I won’t stop crying (1987) by Lucas Sithole,” says De Jesus.  The curated exhibition features a selection of contemporary artworks from the UFS art collection. “The artworks on exhibition are works that were created after the mid-1970s,” says De Jesus. 

Making art collection more accessible 

This virtual exhibition and online tour of the Centenary Art Gallery on the Bloemfontein Campus was put together due to the current restrictions imposed by COVID-19. It also utilises the digital platform for audiences across all the campuses to engage with the collection. “In line with the transformation objectives of the Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP), several projects are currently underway to display artworks in various UFS buildings,” says De Jesus.  


UFS art collection of great significance 

The UFS art collection boasts more than 1 200 art pieces and is a valuable source for research, scholarship, exhibition and education. “The art collection also greatly enhances the cultural life and aesthetic niveau (level) of the UFS and the surrounding region. Cultural collections are an integral part of the societies in which they exist and serve as foundations for collective memory, learning, debate, research and critical thinking.” says De Jesus. 

The gallery also had re-imagined several of its 2020 projects into the digital space. “New exciting projects were also initiated which responded to the pandemic and feelings of isolation, uncertainty, gender-based violence and the digital overload,” says De Jesus. Some of these projects are part of the Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD), which was sponsored by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation. 

View some of the projects here: 

Stories in die Wind a short film animation web series about a young girl finding her purpose, based on the Nama story |!hûni //gāres |(The Rain Flower) Die reën blom: /Nanub !Khas. 
WATCH THE ANIMATED SERIES HERE: https://www.storiesindiewind.co.za/

Digi-Cleanse a satirical artwork disguised as e-commerce website that mimics and critiques the contemporary wellness industry and its reliance on marketing and advertising. 
SEE DIGI-CLEANSE HERE: https://digicleanse.co.za/

My Internal Oppression a musical theatrical performance of emotional content dedicated to women who have toiled with internal oppression as a result of the psychological and emotional trauma of gender-based violence caused by intimate partners. 

Sonic Re-Dress a collaborative meeting point between music, visual art, science and art therapy, the project specifically acknowledges the insecurity, fragility and discord within our current global pandemic context, by working with ‘universal’ human emotions.

Imaginary Futures an experimental project of live and participatory experiences with over more than 40 creative practitioners, consisting of sound and film mixing, drawing, animation, puppetry and performance. 

Penny Siopis, Terra Incognita, 1990, Oil and collage on board, 175 x 165cm. UFS Art Collection.
Penny Siopis, Terra Incognita, 1990, Oil and collage on board, 175 x 165cm. UFS Art Collection.
4. Mohau Modisakeng, Lefa I, 2016, Ink-jet print on Epson Ultrasmooth, 200 x 150cm. UFS Art Gallery, Image courtesy of WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery.
4. Mohau Modisakeng, Lefa I, 2016, Ink-jet print on Epson Ultrasmooth, 200 x 150cm. UFS Art Gallery, Image courtesy of WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery.
Richard Letsatsi Bolleurs, Shattered Innocence, 2009, Oil on canvas, 140 x 110cm. UFS Art Collection.
Richard Letsatsi Bolleurs, Shattered Innocence, 2009, Oil on canvas, 140 x 110cm. UFS Art Collection.
3. Lucas Sithole, I won’t stop crying (detail), 1987, Iron wood, 70 x 58 x 33cm. UFS Art Collection.
3. Lucas Sithole, I won’t stop crying (detail), 1987, Iron wood, 70 x 58 x 33cm. UFS Art Collection.

News Archive

Two Kovsie women involved in international sports events
2012-05-14

 

Hetsie Veitch and Ebeth Grobbelaar
Photo: René-Jean van der Berg
14 May 2012

The organisers of two international sports events will depend on the expertise of two Kovsie women to make the events a major success.

The honour to be involved in international sports event has befallen Ms Hetsie Veitch and Ms Ebeth Grobbelaar.

The honour is the result of many years’ hard work and devotion in their respective fields.

In June, when the USA chooses the team to represent it at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Ms Veitch will be one of the classifiers who will determine in which categories athletes may compete.

Ms Veitch, Head of the Unit for Students with Disabilities at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been invited to be a member of the Classification Panel at the final USA Paralympic athletics trials. The trials take place from 27 June to 1 July 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the USA.

Ms Veitch and four other classifiers, two from Brazil, one from Canada and one from the USA, will test and verify the international classification status of the American athletes. No athlete will be allowed to take part without their classification being verified by the panel.

Ms Veitch, who recently achieved the status of International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics Classifier, the highest achievement for a classifier in sport for the disabled, said that this category of sport has always been her passion.

“To have the opportunity to be involved in the classification of the USA team for the London 2012 Paralympic Games is a huge honour. I am going to start working on being chosen for the official IPC classification panel for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil.”

Ms Grobbelaar, Assistant Director of the South African Testing Laboratory for Prohibited Substances at the UFS, was invited to be involved in the Drugs Control Centre in the unit against prohibited substances which will test sportsmen and women during this year’s Olympic Games in London.

Ms Grobbelaar said that even though the future of sportsmen and women would be in her hands, she is totally capable of carrying out the task that awaits her.

“I will be part of the laboratory team who will test the athletes’ samples for prohibited substances. I was part of the South African team who tested samples in our own laboratory in 2010 during the FIFA Soccer World Cup, as well as for the All Africa Games. The task is one I perform every day in our own laboratories. Each sample that I analyse determines an athlete’s future. The circumstances during the Olympic Games are different, but the work remains the same.”

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