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11 June 2021
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Story Rulanzen Martin
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Photo Courtesy of artists and the Johannes Stegmann Gallery.
Liminality is an exhibition of first-, second- and third-year student’s work in the
Department of Fine Arts at the University of the Free State (UFS). The works are from 2019 and 2020. Created during the hard lockdown of 2020, the artworks provide a glimpse of what students had to deal with and overcome during these times.
In a proposal for the exhibition, Angela de Jesus, Curator of the UFS Art Galleries, wrote: “The subtitle of the exhibition is ‘threshold, transition, transformation’ and it refers to the creative processes that students engaged with
in these adverse circumstances resulting in a wide array of artworks in both traditional and adapted mediums.”
The exhibition speaks to our shared experiences of insecurity, fragility, and discord, and to the resourcefulness and immutability of creative expression.
The virtual exhibition runs until 2 July 2021.
The exhibition is also currently available for viewing at the Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery, Sasol Library, UFS Bloemfontein Campus. Monday - Friday 09:00 - 16:00.
MEGAN JOHNS, Battleground, Tobacco, charcoal dust, plaster of paris and resin, 93.5 x 50 x 7.5 cm
JACOBETH SELINGA, Linda, Installation: Found bed, wool and thread, 257 x 196 x 91 cm
POLOKO MOHANOE, Prayer for rain, Gouache on Fabriano, 66 x 72.8 cm
SEBOTSE SELAMULELA, In my image (Coronavirus head), Clay, 35 x 40 x 60 cm
WILLIAM SHAER, Creator, Deconstructed chair, koat wood and Imbura wood, 100 x 75 x 45 cm
Johannes Stegmann Gallery
Interior of the Johannes Stegmann Gallery
National Literacy Month celebrated
2013-09-16
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Revelling in the lighter side of life on Robben Island, were from left: Paddy Harper, Gugu Kunene, Peter-Paul Ngwenya, Betsy Eister, Director of the UFS Library and Information Services, and Fred Khumalo. Photo: Jerry Mokoroane 16 September 2013 |
In recognition of National Literacy Month, the UFS Library and Information Services hosted journalists Fred Khumalo, Paddy Harper and Gugu Kunene, who launched their book,‘The lighter side of Life on Robben Island’, to Bloemfontein book lovers.
Khumalo, a Sunday Times review columnist, Harper, a journalist for City Press, and Kunene, a former SABC journalist, enthralled the audience with snippets from their book. “We have read so many other books on Robben Island,” Khumalo said, “focusing on the famous people like (Nelson) Mandela and (Ahmed) Kathrada. The idea of this book is to reflect on lesser-known individuals; explore and illuminate other aspects of their lives."
To give the audience just such an intimate glimpse into those experiences, Peter-Paul Ngwenya – a former inmate on Robben Island –shared the stage in the Scaena Theatre. When Ngwenya, now chairperson of Makana Investment Corporation, regaled attendees with anecdotes from fellow detainees and everyday prison life, he brought the entire house down in stitches of laughter.
Contrasting the light banter of everyday life with the hardships prisoners faced, Khumalo said the book celebrates "the humanity of individuals – those sides of the story that make them human beings with fully fledged lives."