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22 November 2022 | Story Gerda-Marié van Rooyen
Antjie Krog at UFS
The award-winning writer, Antjie Krog, will be the keynote speaker at the International Hybrid Conference from 24 to 26 November 2022. This conference is a joint venture of the University of the Free State (UFS) Centre for Gender and Africa Studies and the War Museum.

The award-winning writer, Antjie Krog, will be the keynote speaker later this week at an International Hybrid Conference titled, The Unsung Heroines and Youth of South Africa: Violent Histories and Experiences of South African Women and Children during Wars, Conflicts and Pandemics. This conference – a joint project of the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the War Museum – starts on Thursday 24 November and will be hosted at the War Museum in Bloemfontein and broadcast online. The three-day conference overlaps with the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and aims to assemble historians, academics, and other scholars researching the violent histories of not only women and children in the South African War but in other wars, conflicts, and pandemics as well.

Prof Krog, an Extraordinary Professor in the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Western Cape, poet, and author of Country of my Skull (among other books), is an alumna of the UFS, where she completed a BA degree with Afrikaans, Philosophy, and English. She will deliver her keynote address, Survival, Complicity, and Race: (Im)possibilities of Narrating and Interpreting Rape in Havenga Affidavits, on the first day of the conference.

Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS, will deliver her keynote address on Friday (25 November 2022). Prof Hudson is considered a specialist in feminist security studies. Her keynote address is titled Disciplinary and other stories: From women’s peace movements to the Women, Peace and Security ecosystem.

Several historians, academics, and scholars will either present their research or attend the conference. The conference aims to gather various stakeholders who are researching the violent histories of not only the women and children in the South African War, but other wars, conflicts, and pandemics in South African history dating from precolonial times to the World Wars, Apartheid, to the present. Each of the eight sessions over the first two days will conclude with time set aside for discussion.

The conference programme includes a visit to the art exhibition Unsung Heroes at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Friday after the last session. On Saturday, conference attendees can look forward to a tour of Bloemfontein. Click here for more information or send an email to vicky@anglo-boer.co.za.

News Archive

Bright young mind shines
2016-12-12

Description:Candice Thikeson  Tags: Bowls  longdesc=


Candice Thikeson, a Master’s
student in Arts History and
Image Studies at the University
of the Free State.
Photo: Anja Aucamp

“I was once told that I looked ‘immaculate’, as always. We use the word ‘immaculate’ to describe the Virgin Mary, does it get better than that?”

To everyone else, she may be a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, Bright Young Mind and Abe Bailey Travel Bursary candidate, but there is more to this beauty that meets the eye.

Relating to women in the humanities field

Candice Thikeson, who is currently a Master’s student in Art History and Image Studies, says “I have a very strong spiritual foundation and my relationship with God really fuels everything I do. I also think being intentional about building great relationships with your family and friends is imperative.”

She says she has been inspired by different people at different stages of her life and draws a great deal from academics, creatives and activists. She relates best to women who are in the humanities and draws inspiration from the likes of Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Kenya-born, Somalian poet Warsan Shire.

“I love how they are able to comment on some of the most pressing issues black women face through beautiful and poignant writing. I also admire how frank these women are, something I’m still learning to be,” Thikeson says.

Pursue something you are genuinely interested in

The biggest misconception people have of her is that she studies art and she is working towards becoming an artist. “Fine art and art history is not the same thing. I don’t paint or make art at university, and I really don’t enjoy being called an artist.”

When asked about how she has become so successful at such a young age, she reiterated the cliché: “pursue something you are genuinely interested in and passionate about”. She adds, “if you are really good at what you do, your gift will make room for you in your field”.

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