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17 May 2024
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Prof Magdalena Sobon from Poland and Michael Jackson Blebo from Ghana shared their expertise with staff and students during their visit to the Department of Fine Arts at the University of the Free State.
In a concerted effort to solidify its identity in South Africa and abroad, the Department of Fine Arts at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently played host to two distinguished artists: Prof Magdalena Sobon from the Wladyslaw Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, and the Ghanaian multidisciplinary artist, Michael Jackson Blebo.
Dr Adelheid Von Maltitz, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Fine Arts at UFS, lauded the visits, held between 19 and 29 March 2024, as an enriching learning experience for the faculty and students within the department.
The visit highlights
During their visit to UFS, Prof Sobon and Blebo actively engaged with the department’s staff and students. Prof Sobon, an acknowledged paper-making artist, conducted a comprehensive two-day workshop, imparting extensive knowledge in this craft. As a direct outcome of this workshop, the department has procured the requisite equipment and materials, enriching the students’ capabilities in this medium. Blebo on the other hand, conducted a demonstration on clay bust modelling and both artists participated in critique sessions with the fourth-year students. Dr Von Maltitz underlined the significance of Blebo’s African heritage, noting, ‘’For our students to interact with a young, accomplished artist of his calibre is of benefit to them in terms of how they may envision their art careers.’’ Of particular note were Prof Sobon’s interactions with the students, wherein she shared her own artistic practices from her student years during her lectures.
In addition to their engagements with the students, Prof Sobon and Blebo also had the opportunity to present their research to second-year sculpture students at the Richmond Land Art Project, an off-campus initiative fostering art creation centred on socio-economic and other pertinent issues.
Future collaborations
Dr Von Maltitz emphasised the importance of maintaining ties with these eminent artists for the department’s growth and global outreach. Prof Sobon’s visit has paved the way for two department members to visit the Wladyslaw Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz in the near future. ‘’These individuals will get an opportunity to learn about studio setups and network with fellow academics, creative researchers, and artists,’’ stated Dr Von Maltitz. She hailed the visit by the two artists as both stimulating and fruitful, particularly for the students.
President of Spelman College delivered Second Annual Reconciliation Lecture
2013-08-12
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Dr Beverly Daniel Tatum
12 August 2013 |
Dr Beverly Tatum lecture (pdf)
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The United States have much to learn from South Africa about reconciliation. This is according to Dr Beverly Daniel Tatum, president of Spelman College, the oldest college for African American women in the US. Delivering the Second Annual Reconciliation Lecture on our Bloemfontein Campus, Dr Tatum –an internationally-acclaimed educator and expert on race relations –said five years after the US elected its first black president, the country still finds it difficult to make peace with the painful truth of its past.
Drawing inspiration from a speech made by former president Nelson Mandela at the adoption of the South African constitution in 1996, Dr Tatum said it requires courage to engage in a meaningful way with those we have been socialised to mistrust.
Dr Tatum highlighted the shooting of the US teenager Trayvon Martin, who was killed in Florida in an incident many attributed to racial profiling. The unarmed Martin, while out walking in the evening to buy a snack, was accosted and shot by neighbourhood watchman George Zimmerman who suspected him to be a potential thief.
“How do we move beyond stereotypes to more authentic knowledge of one another?” she posed the question to a packed Reitz Hall in the Centenary Complex.
Dr Tatum, author of the critically-acclaimed books, Can We Talk about Race? and Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? said we have to be brave enough to have our assumptions challenged.
“If we want a better society, one characterised by strength, trust and unity, we must interrupt the cycle and there is no better place to do it than at a university like this one, where the next generation of leaders is being prepared. But it requires intentionality. It takes practice.”
During her two-day visit, she also met with postgraduate students from the Faculty of Education to discuss social cohesion at schools. She also took part in a roundtable discussion with educators from the UFS and other universities, deliberating the topicLeading with/for/against differences on university campuses.