(Zamashabase
Mkwananzi, Simphiwe Mlambo, Gcinokuhle Masengemi & Dubazane Nomonde, Interior
Design students presenting an exhibition of flat-pack lazer-cut chair
prototypes, which have been designed and manufactured in conjunction with the Durban
Art Deco Society and Makerspace Durban. Photo by Jed Kenny)
Durban University
of Technology’s third annual DigiFest is set for September 9 and 10.
The University’s
City Campus will open its doors to the public for a series of live art
activations, exhibitions, innovations, panel discussions, workshops, music,
theatre, poetry, comedy, dance, food and more.
The opening night, September
9, includes a DUT Alumni fundraising event for the ‘Missing Middle’ campaign - a
funding support initiative for students. It also features live performance by
the award-winning a-capella trio, The Soil, and includes the launch of the
24th International Symposium on Electronic Art, (#ISEA2018), which takes
place in Durban in 2018 - the first time on African soil.
Several DUT
academic programmes will participate in this year’s Digifest, alongside
external partners and organisations working with digital technologies.
Interior Design students
present an exhibition of flat-pack lazer-cut chair prototypes, designed and manufactured
in conjunction with Durban Art Deco Society and Makerspace Durban. Fine Art students
research, map, manufacture and present a series of objects exclusively for the
Digifest entitled no-tech to lo-tech. Bending Blackboards, an eLearning collection,
includes work from practitioners interfacing with art, science and technology.
The Journalism programme
will present photo essays and short documentaries. Written, video and audio coverage
of the DigiFest will be streamed on the Journalismiziko online publication and
online radio. The Rise of the OXX project returns in 2016 as an inter-departmental,
collaborative project including Fashion & Textiles, Graphic Design,
Jewellery Design and Interior Design departments in an exhibition and fashion
show of innovation and inspiration. In an exhibition entitled Perception, Jewellery Design students
explore the interaction of their jewellery with the world, through a visual and
audio installation.
The Photography programme
are working with 3D mapping artists to exhibit a selection of images, which
will bring new life to parts of the campus. Graphic Design students will
exhibit portfolios that embrace a wide range of digital media for print or
online publications, websites, online apps, animation, advertising, stationery,
and other forms of visual communication.
Live performance
features at the sixth annual DUT Children’s Theatre Festival, a parallel event,
which takes place at the Courtyard Theatre from September 8 to 11. DigiFest
will stage a satellite production from this festival of Looking for a Leader, and dance students from the Drama department
will stage two dance performances.
Video Voyeur screenings
will showcase the best music videos and dramas produced by Video Technology
students. The Language Practice department introduces #DigiWordPlay using
humour, performance and mime to bring to life the meanings and interpretations
of words within and across different languages. The Translation and
Interpreting Practice programme will stage an installation to collect,
translate and upload words in the theme of art, design and technology to the
isiZulu online dictionary hosted by Oxford Living Dictionaries.
Other highlights
include award-winning Digital artist and DUT Fashion Lecturer Nirma Madoo-Chipps
who presents her latest work Labtayt
Sulci. This series shot partially in Iceland is inspired by the NASA
exploration of Enceladus, one of Jupiter’s moons, and extends the notion of the
digital fashioned body - real or simulated; human or exobiological.
An exciting
installation from the Maker Space, along with international contributors, will
be capturing sound clips from the local space, converting these into a visual
and three dimensional form and then converting that into a sculptural object
and artwork. Live art from Resoborg, Sketch Wars and others will adorn the
campus walls.
There will be performances
by some top South African Artists, including The Soil, Felix Laband, Raheem
Kemet, Easy Freak, DJ Lag, DJ Merlon, Strage and Nkululeko Dlamini. PechaKucha talk
series returns on the subject of digital art, design and innovation. The
speakers are selected from various background and this punchy talk format
allows 20 x 20 second slides to guide the speakers. Talkfest hosts a number of
workshops and panel discussions, with speakers from around South Africa, on
various subjects from social innovation, art & data, 3D printing, digital
design and social media.
031 Entertainment presents
local comedians for a short showcase and Art for Humanity will host a Poetry
Session.
DigiFest takes
place at the DUT City Campus, Corner of Dr Pixley Ka Seme (formerly known as
West Street) and Julius Nyerere (formerly known as Warwick Avenue) on September
9 from 12 noon to 22h00, and on September 10 from 10h00 to 122h00. All are
welcome and entrance is free.
This year’s theme,
“We are such stuff”, is taken from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in commemoration of the 400 year anniversary of his
death. #Shakespeare400
DUT DigiFest is
presented by the Faculty of Arts and Design at Durban University of Technology,
with support from the Ethekwini Municipality.
For more information go to www.digifest.dut.ac.za
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