“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.”
Ousman Sembene
The School of Arts celebrated Vincent Baloyi’s contribution to the Fine Art department this semester.
Throughout his career, Baloyi has been actively involved in both creating art and teaching others. He has worked with various organizations, including the National Arts Society, the SAAA, and FUNDA, where he has served as a teacher and a technical assistant Baloyi's art often reflects his experiences and observations, capturing the essence of life with vibrant colors and expressive forms. His dedication to his craft and his willingness to share his knowledge have made him a respected figure in the South African art and Wits community. Through his artistry and teaching, he continues to leave an indelible mark on the artistic landscape, inspiring generations to come
Vincent Baloyi, an artist true, Your canvas speaks, our spirits renew.
8 collectives 8 publications 4 conversations.
On the 2nd of March the students of Wits’ NEWWORK24 public engagement programme x Umshini showcased their collective efforts in a day-long interdiscursive programme to celebrate the spirit of collective/ self-publication and book arts in context of ARAC's closing of their residency at the Javett-UP.
The 8 collectives; Move!, Paper Jam, Hoops, Phetoho, IT’S WEIRD, The Struggle Continues, and Terms & Conditions showcased their handmade publications created with a risograph the year prior.
Afterward, the collectives were paired for discussions around their conceptual frame working, the book making process and dynamics of working within the collective.
Through these conversations we explored concepts such as soundscapes, levity & humour, Black girlhood, the element of fire, the implications of capitalism, how care is a human need and so much more.
Rangoato Hlasane giving a speech at the 8 collectives 8 publications 4 conversations student event, held at Javett-UP
70 cm x 90 com, 2023
Pamela ‘Sana King’ Mavuso b.1999 is a multi-disciplinary artist, entrepreneur, poet, and award-winning author based in Johannesburg. Her poetry journey started at the age of eleven and she published a book titled ‘Songs Broken Women Sing’ which won an award at the South African Authors Awards in 2019. Sana King is currently studying towards her MAFA Degree at the University of Witwatersrand majoring in painting, printmaking & sculpture. African knowledge systems and her spiritual practice inform her artistic style and aspirations. Across the different mediums that Sana works with, the underlying thread is healing, her own, that of her bloodline as well as that of those who open up their hearts to her offerings. Her cultural work often revolves around women, their labour, healing, voices and visibility.
Sana's trajectory is to represent black women, tell and place their stories in narratives and histories that previously erased them. Sana King wishes to merge her interests in ways that empower her and others.
Sana recently collaborated with rain South Africa on their rain 101 5G Smart Wi-fi routers, where her painting Ukhethiwe is one of the artworks used as the face of the routers for the State of the Art limited edition collection, available online. The collection was first launched at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair, where Sana King was showing with rain SA as well as Occupying the Gallery.
The Point of Order (TPO) hosted Master’s of Arts in Fine Arts exhibitions in term one, these exhibitions mark the examination of the practical component of the MA degree.
Photo: Reshma Chhiba
THINGS I FOUND NELLE VISCERE by
Camilla Pontiggia
Things I Found Nelle Viscere is conceptualised as a performative exhibition space in which to activate and embody the research it is born of Taking as a departure her life experiences between South Africa and Italy, Camilla looks to her personal encounters with coloniality and to the colonial histories of the two countries, in the relentless*, cyclical attempt to renegotiate a given blueprint/trap for knowing, being, and doing. Digging through everything that sits inside the bowels of being, Things I Found Nelle Viscere wrestles with what arises - a map of a house that anticipates its own imprint of a world vision; a map of the world as an inscribed, stitched circle; a map of aestheTics, aestheSis and God as a series of golden frames - tending to the hum of noise they create, the sound of a world at odds with itself
Homescapes: Spaces between Home and eKhaya by
Londiwe Mtshali
What worlds can words make? Homescapes: Spaces between Home and eKhaya take this question into consideration the intricate and timehonoured art of homemaking. This work explores the beauty and fragility of home and family life and the laws that restrict it. Through a combination of visual and auditory elements, I seek to capture the essence of these ideas and convey their emotional or even cultural significance. This work will intertwine concepts that have been central to the human experience for centuries. I aim to create a dreamlike atmosphere as an invitation to contemplate home, and daily lives, to find meaning and beauty in the practices of homemaking, and to appreciate the value of the traditions and practices and to question what makes a home
As part of its public programming, the exhibition hosted a talk between
Londiwe Mtshali (b. 1994) is a visual artist, writer and scholar. She is interested in Black women's homeownership, memory, theories of personal identities, traditional practices, and politics of language. Mtshali works across the disciplines of installation, printmaking, video, photography, textile and text.
Mtshali's year kicked off with great anticipation for her art exhibition titled Homescapes: Spaces between Home and eKhaya, which took place in March. This exhibition served as a part of Mtshali's Masters research in which body of work, invites viewers to immerse themselves in her unique interpretation of home and belonging. The pieces on display captivated audiences, offering thought-provoking insights into the concept of home from Mtshali's perspective. One of the notable highlights of the year was Mtshali's participation in the project Occupy the Gallery which was in partnership with the Institute of France in South Africa (IFAS) and Artist Proof Studios. This was a month-long project where artists formed makeshift studio spaces, taking art out of the confines of traditional galleries and museums, the movement encourages a more inclusive and participatory approach to art appreciation. This project was concluded by a showcase at the Latitudes Art Fair.
Notable upcoming projects include A House Is Not A Home at the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Art (KZNSA) opening on 21 June 2024. Mtshali is also taking part in the KLA ART Festival Residency, a three-month period from May to July 2024 and showcasing in the festival in August this year in Kampala, Uganda.
The department of Fine Art scoops 2 awards at the The National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) 2024 awards this March.
Ellipses [...] Issue [4]: Architectures Of The South: Bruising, Wounding, Healing, Remembering, Returning, And Repairing, won the award for the Best Digital Humanities Visualisation/Infographics This issue was edited by Huda Tayob and Catalina Meija Moreno, with digital editor Tamara Tesoriera, and editor in chief Tegan Bristow, and Issue Digital Editors Tamara Tesoriero. The issue included submissions by Aaniyah Martin, Antonio Di Campli,
Camilla Rondot, Catalina Mejía Moreno, Felipe Arturo, Gabriela Leandro Pereira, George Mahashe, Hamzah Al Asadulloh, Huda Tayob, Jessica Hindradjaja, Jumanah Abbas, Jumoke Sanwo, Kaelo Molefe, Marcelo Ferraz, Margarida Waco, Maria Bernadete Morosini, Mariana Leandro Pereira, Nkululeko Ezra Selulu, Refiloe Lepere, and Zara Julius
The issue was proposed for the award by current Senior Editor in Chief Zen Marie and Olu Randle who serves on the ellipses [...] WSOA committee You can find the journal at https://www.ellipses.org.za/
Source: https://nihss.ac.za/awards
Bhūmi explores the delicate balance between humanity and nature, urging audiences to reflect on their role in preserving the planet that we call home. Through the use of vibrant visuals, rhythmic footwork, and emotive performances, Bhūmi showcases the beauty and resilience of the Earth, while emphasising the critical need for conservation and sustainable living
Each performance was followed by discussions with climate justice activists, namely, Kumi Naidoo, Louisa Zondo and Malik Dasoo.
Reshma Chhiba, Anusha Pillay and Panna Dulabh won the award for the Best Creative Collections Public Performance for their work Bhumi/Earth.
The Sarvavidya Dance Ensemble (SDE) staged Bhūmi (pronounced “bhoo-mee”), at the Lesedi at Joburg Theatre in 2023 Bhūmi, a Sanskrit word for “Earth”, aims to bring awareness to the pressing effects of the climate crisis through the medium of classical Indian dance, namely Bharatanatyam. Through the use of both storytelling and abstract movement (both are features of the style of Bharatanatyam),
SDEs vision, through Bhūmi and other works, is to expand the vocabulary of Bharatanatyam in contemporary South Africa, and simultaneously render it visible and accessible to audiences who are not familiar with its form.
Source: Bettina Malcomess
Bettina Malcomess opens Sentimental Agents (PHD exhibition) at the Wits Art Museum.
Sentimental Agents is a series of moving image works embodying the entanglements of cinema within the nervous system of empire, an immersive information field of signals, light, sound and transmission.
The film cycle was shot in various locations in analogue and digital formats, tracking the journey of the sentimental agent, a technician of minor histories, and a figure troubling whiteness and witnessing. The show includes drawings, prints and expanded cinema works, with two iterations.
Approximation #1 revisits works made over 7 years of PhD research into cinema and information technology in the South African (Anglo-Boer) War. Approximation #2 opens in late May with the final film in the series, Still (Nooitgedacht/Never Thought) produced during the show. Several talks and interventions attempt to situate this war history in relation to the extreme violence of war we are witnessing in the present. The show complicates historical memory and mediation in the context of imperialism and its many afterlives.
Source: Bettina Malcomess
A closing message from the writers
As we conclude the semester, it is with immense gratitude that we would like to reflect on the collaborative efforts who have contributed to this newsletter. To each student and staff member would has participated in the creative efforts to bring this publication to life, we thank you.
We would like this space to be one that highlights and fosters a sense of community amongst the Fine Arts Department. Please engage with our social media spaces as well.
Until we meet again on the next edition, keep writing, keep dreaming, and keep making a difference.
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