CONNECTIONS

(Pic: “Insecure” by Tony Starkey - acrylic on 50% fabriano paper)

Connections is an exhibition and a catalogue launch showcasing works by the Fine Art and Jewellery Design departments of the Durban University of Technology. The project is born out of peer-reviewed research publication and, although the publication will in part revisit the history of the art school, the exhibition will only show artworks by current staff of both departments.

The department of Fine Art and Jewellery Design has its origins in humble beginnings 125 years ago. In the Centenary catalogue titled 100 Hundred Years of Art, Jeremy Wafer (1984) described the beginnings of the department when he said that “1884 saw the beginnings of art education under the unlikely auspices of the Natal Government Railways. Apprentices learning model making and geometric drawing had the utility of these lessons lightened by some classes in art drawing under a Major Herbert of the Natal Carbineers”.

Since then the department has existed in many forms within different institutions. It was established as an art school in 1886 by the then Government department through its education department under the leadership of W.H.T. Venner, as the School of Art headed by John Adams (1915) and J.P. Oxley (1921), as the School of Arts and Crafts under G.D How (1937) within the Technical College.

Within the Natal College for Advanced Technical Education it existed as an Art School under numerous headships. The Jewellery programme, established in 1978, has been led by Chris de Beer and in 2007, with the appointment of Bonginkosi Tshabalala, Marlene de Beer and Samantha Vincent, continued to build on its national reputation for the development of a unique approach to design and manufacture rooted in the materials and craft of KwaZulu-Natal cultures. The result of this can be seen at the show.

The newly formed department of Fine Art and Jewellery Design provides a framework for the exploitation of existing synergies, and the curriculation of a multidisciplinary qualification in the context of a University of Technology (UoT) and the newly gazetted HEQF.

This exhibition showcases practice-based research that reflects the commitment of lecturers to a UoT centred integration of theory and practice, in the context of the rich cultures and traditions of the art and craft of KwaZulu-Natal.

Exhibiting artists are Andries Botha, Themba Shibase, Tony Starkey, John Roome, Chris De Beer, Jan Jordaan, Greg Streak, Bonginkosi Tshabalala, Marlene De Beer, Nicola Savage, Royal Gwala, Greg Bye, Carla DaCruz, Hendrick Strobel, Barry Truter, Bronwen Vaughan Evans, Samantha Vincent and Nirmi Ziegler.

Connections runs from July 14 to 30 at the DUT Art Gallery which is situated above the library on the Steve Biko Campus in Mansfield Road. For more information contact the Curator, Nathi Gumede, on 031 373 2207 or 082 2200 368 or email: nkosinathig@dut.ac.za