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Locked down, but not locked out — UFS Arts thriving

31 October 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Stephen Collett

Stegmann Gallery - Stephen Collett — The Johannes Stegmann Gallery.

Digital and online art exhibitions are no novelty. However, for the Art Gallery at the University of the Free State (UFS), it was a way of keeping the art scene alive, as many promising young artists and students depend on the exhibition opportunities UFS Art Galleries offer to debut and exhibit their works.

“The situation surrounding COVID-19 necessitated a very rapid migration into the virtual space,” says Angela de Jesus, Curator of the UFS Art Gallery. In 2020, the gallery presented its first virtual exhibition tour, creating an opportunity to reach a global audience. The exhibition hosted by the Johannes Stegmann Gallery was Leeto: a Sam Nhlengethwa Print Retrospective. (It was the second virtual exhibition for the Sam Nhlengethwa collection.)

The UFS Art Galleries comprise the Johannes Stegmann Gallery in the UFS Sasol Library on the Bloemfontein Campus and the Centenary Complex, boasting an art gallery that hosts the UFS permanent collection of about 1 000 artworks, including paintings, sculptural works, murals, prints, and ceramic works.

“The situation surrounding COVID-19
necessitated a very rapid migration
into the virtual space.”
—Angela de Jesus

Challenging times called for an adaptive attitude

In 2021, the gallery approached a hybrid model with a blended approach of an in-person and virtual exhibition being launched simultaneously. “The virtual tours allow audiences to digitally navigate (‘walk through’) the gallery space as they would in real space,” says De Jesus.

The Liminality: Student Exhibition, which saw works from first-, second, - and third-year students from 2019 and 2020 exhibited, and the Folds & Faults: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture, and Heritage , and The Annual Final-Year Student Exhibition of the Department of Fine Arts exhibitions were just some of the 2021 exhibitions using the hybrid model.

“Every project is different, and each one comes with its own challenges and difficulties, but we learn new ways through its complexities,” says De Jesus. However, she is optimistic that the gallery will soon be able to host its signature opening events and welcome back large crowds.

The limitation on in-person gatherings meant that traditional exhibitions were in a hiatus. The value and quality of the arts programme had to be maintained, using creative arts to navigate the pandemic. “Projects have been reimagined into the digital space through virtual tours or through the activation of social media platforms, Zoom, app development, webinars and dedicated project websites,” De Jesus says. New and exciting projects in response to the pandemic and feelings of “isolation, uncertainty, violence, and the digital overload” were initiated.

Although viewing art virtually cannot replace the experience of engaging with the art first-hand; the shift to the digital space presented the opportunity for a wider audience beyond the UFS to access the Art Gallery and its projects.

PIAD projects rejuvenate artistic creativity

Through the Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD) and funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a number of digital artistic projects consisting of short stories, a theatrical performance, and a satirical e-commerce website, amongst others, were made possible.

The projects are still accessible and are available to view 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 an 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 emotionally content dedicated women who have toiled with internal oppression as a result of the psychological and emotional trauma of Gender-Based Violence caused by intimate partners.

SEE PERFORMANCE HERE: https://vimeo.com/468883494/376f3573d4

Sonic Re-Dress is 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.

SEE PROJECT HERE: https://www.sonic-redress.com/

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

SEE PROJECT HERE: https://imaginaryfutures.org/

Megan Johns, "Battleground", Tobacco, charcoal dust, plaster of paris and resin, 93,5 x 50 x 7,5 cm

Poloko Mohanoe, "Prayer for rain", Gouache on Fabriano, 66 x 72,8 cm

News Archive

Out-of-the-box thinking a plus for next generation of agribusiness leaders

2017-07-07

The winners of the 12th IFAMA International Student
Case Competition from Team South Africa are from
the left: JW Swanepoel, University of the Free State,
Melissa van der Merwe, University of Pretoria,
Heinrich Jantjies, Stellenbosch University, and
Johann Boonzaaier, also from Stellenbosch University.
Photo: Supplied

The International Food and Agribusiness Management Association’s International Student Case Competition, in its 12th year, brings together students from around the world to demonstrate their investigative and problem-solving skills to provide innovative solutions to practical problems.

JW Swanepoel, a PhD student at the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of the Free State (UFS) was part of an advanced case study team, representing South African universities, who won IFAMA’s International Student Case Competition. Swanepoel also presented results from his PhD study at IFAMA’s conference in Miami, Florida, where the winners were announced.

Competition a global stage to showcase solutions
The competition provides a global stage for students and their associated universities to showcase the next generation of agribusiness leaders.

This year the featured agribusiness was Bayer Crop Science. Although this company managed to expand its global footprint through its Food Chain Partnership, it faced some challenges to expand in emerging economies through small-scale farmers. Being from the African continent, Swanepoel and his team not only understood Bayer’s unique challenge but could also pre-empt some of the potential problems faced by agribusinesses that wanted to grow their footprint in emerging economies. This provided them with a competitive advantage in going head-to-head with some of the best universities in the world such as Purdue, Wageningen, Michigan, Texas A & M and Santa Clara to mention just a few.

The South African team’s presentation “Selling Lindiwe’s story” told the story of a small-scale woman cassava farmer in Mozambique who, after the death of her husband, became the main breadwinner. The South African team indicated how Bayer could play a major role in not only selling chemicals to these farmers but even more importantly to change the stories of small-scale farmers like Lindiwe. They recommended a strategic partnership with AB InBev as the main buyer for the cassava produced by these small-scale farmers, as a cheaper beer base substitute. They also recommended a local partner (Value Chain Insights) that understood the political, social and economic environment of these countries to facilitate the relationships between Bayer and its small-scale farmers.

Understanding the challenge a competitive advantage
According to the panel of judges, the innovative approach and motivations for investing in strategic partnerships with AB InBev and Value Chain Insights went beyond financial benefits, to include corporate social responsibility and rural development. Lindiwe’s story was, however, the decisive factor. The South African team was the only team to put a face and a story to the often invisible small-scale farmers.

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