Languages: 
WSU fine art students who recently exhibited at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown were left pleasantly surprised as the institution’s council chairperson popped into their showcase to show his support.
Chairperson of council Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi not only did a walkabout and keenly engaged with the delightful artworks on sale at the university’s exhibition at the Albany Museum, but he was so impressed that he bought a few artworks to take back home.
“The quality of work by our students was so good that we even sold pieces to our council chairperson as a result. His support for the exhibition and the work of our students was an invaluable gesture and it truly meant a lot for our department,” said exhibition coordinator and fine art lecturer Litha Ncokazi.
The exhibition was a culmination of a thorough selection process undertaken by the university aimed at scrutinizing the quality, presentation, creativeness and readiness of the art pieces.
Upon its completion, the aforementioned exercise eventually saw a total of five current student and three alumni displaying 29 artworks that transcended a plethora of disciplines that included multimedia, sculpting, oil on canvas, acrylic on canvas, woodcut prints and oil pastel on perspex.
“The pieces that made the final cut were of superior quality all-round. The presentation was exciting and alluring. This all boils down to the material investment that the fine art department puts into this exhibition. Though our audience feedback was also quite positive, there’s of course always room for improvement,” said Ncokazi.
A WSU alumnus, Kho Pedi, who holds an advanced diploma in fine art, was one of those that benefitted from the council chair’s visit after Advocate Ngcukaitobi bought one of his portraits.
It was a third visit to the festival as part of the WSU exhibition for Peyi, whose body of work was presented under the theme “Ubuhle bendoda ziinkomo”, which loosely translated means “A man’s beauty is measured by amount of cattle he owns”.
“I’m very honoured to see my work once again hanging from those walls and it means everything to me for the university to continue to provide an opportunity for us emerging artists to display our work. This opportunity allows us a huge platform for us to expose our work to a broader and lucrative market that can potentially create revenue and opportunities,” said Peyi.
Advanced diploma student Bobo Tango also lauded the efforts of the university to create such a platform for students – a platform that allowed him to exhibit his woodcut prints, oil paintings and mixed media pieces.
Tango, who majors in printmaking, exhibited and moulded his collection around the carefully considered theme “Technology and the body: at artist’s investigation of the impact of technology on the human body”.
“Printmaking is the best discipline in helping me stimulate self-expression and creativity. Most importantly, it allows me to build a sense of individual identity within my craft,” he concluded.
By Thando Cezula
