(“creation: Pattern Cuff”, a work in silver by Tarryn Coleman 2010)The final year Diploma and Degree students in the newly formed department of Fine Art and Jewellery Design at the University of Technology recently exhibited selected work at the Durban University of Technology Gallery. The work on show reflected conceptual rigour, social awareness, craftsmanship and a rich range of attitudes in response to contemporary issues, using a wide range of technical approaches.
The Department of Fine Art and Jewellery Design celebrates its 126th anniversary this year. The press material states that the department has its origins in “1884 which 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 Government Education department, as the School of Art in1915, and as the School of Arts and Crafts within the Technical College in 1937. The Fine Art department has a long history of graduates who have contributed to the development of South African art history and art education.
It became the department of Fine Art and Jewellery Design in 2008 within the Durban University of Technology. The Jewellery programme, established in 1978, has built a national reputation for the development of a unique approach to design and manufacture rooted in the materials and craft of KwaZulu-Natal cultures.
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