November 2020
6 November – Half-Price Friday with FREE guided tour at 10am, 11am or 12pm
The Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria (Javett-UP) has partnered with University of Pretoria Campus Tours (UPCT) for the virtual and physical training of studen¬ts in museum education, particularly at Javett-UP. The six UPCT guides have been training since 31 August this year, and even though this was during level 3 of the national lockdown, the guides proved to be engaged, enthusiastic and interactive.
As a practical component of the physical training, and to get visitors back to Javett-UP, we have introduced Half-Price Friday on the first Friday of every month, which entails half-price entrance all day, with the option of a free guided tour at any of the times listed above with a UPCT guide, who will obtain an attendance certificate at the end of their training.
16 November
Fibonacci Day: The Golden Ratio
The golden ratio has been used by artists for centuries to create aesthetically pleasing compositions and distribute weight in their works. In celebration of Fibonacci Day: Golden Ratio, which is observed on 23 November, Javett-UP interns recently applied the golden ratio to selected artworks in the museum. By placing the ratio layout in front of artworks in the various galleries, they were able to map out the use of visual harmony and geometry in these selected works.
December 2020
4 December – Half-Price Friday with FREE guided tour at 10am, 11am or 12pm
16 December – Free entry
Javett-UP has partnered with UP and UNICEF for a three-month mentorship programme. Three mentees were selected and trained in three departments: Curatorial, Education and Administration.
As a practical component of the educational training, and to get visitors back to Javett-UP, we have introduced Half-Price Friday on the first Friday of every month, which entails half-price entrance all day, with the option of a free guided tour at any of the times listed above with a mentee, who will obtain an attendance certificate at the end of their training.
14 December
10am – 3pm Alex Arts Academy workshop day
Javett-UP education officer Puleng Plessie, along with eight other facilitators, will run this workshop for learners between the ages of 10 and 18 from the Alex Arts Academy. The workshop will take place at Javett-UP’s Gallery Space.
Session 1: Storytelling session: Inganekwane
For the first session, we plan to incorporate storytelling with an educational tour of Javett-UP. This is followed by exploring the CAPS curriculum by looking at artistic elements and design principles of exhibited artworks.
Session 2: Drawing and painting workshop
In session two, participants will take concepts from the storytelling and CAPS curriculum session into the treasure hunt activity, during which they will search for specific themes that deal with art elements and design principles. Participants will be placed in groups to create posters and will be encouraged to do a presentation of their posters.
16 December
10:00 A Walk Through History
Housed in Javett-UP’s collections are artworks that reflect historical events and stories that offer a unique perspective on South Africa’s rich history. On 16 December, Javett-UP will host a screening of Steven Motena’s 27 Steps to Freedom, a 20-minute historical documentary that addresses and questions themes around the liberation of South African history.
The film will be followed by a historically based guided tour of carefully selected artworks in the collection. The tour will involve a narrative-based walk through history, commencing with the effects of colonisation on South Africa and ending with the contemporary state of the country.
10:00 – Documentary: 27 Steps to Freedom by Steven Motena (Javett-UP Auditorium)
10:30 – Historical guided tour (Javett-UP Gallery Space)
12:30 Indigenous music workshop
Leon Leanaphuti Moloi, a percussionist and marimba player, will be hosting indigenous music workshops for all ages at the Bridge Gallery. Everyone is invited to join in this exciting activity. Moloi will talk about the history of indigenous instruments, before workshopping a few, such as the uhadi and makhoyane (bows), and mchingo (reed flute). Participants will then be invited to create music together.
In 2002, Moloi joined the Soweto Percussion Ensemble, which consisted of musicians Gugu Ngwenya, Tlale Makhene and Thebe Lipere; Moloi played tin tin, dun dun and marimbas in the band. He has since played with many bands, such as Mabone and Ingoma Yase Africa, and taught music at institutions like Funda Centre and the Dlamini School of Music. He is currently teaching traditional instruments at the Morris Isaacson Centre for Music.
14:00 Jazz with Josie Matabola
Josie Matabola, a jazz vocalist from Pretoria, will perform with a jazz trio at the Javett Collection Gallery. Her vocal ability has been a robust instrument from a tender age. She has performed at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival, and has worked with the likes of Salim Washington, Sello Galane, Judith Sephuma and various bands.
January 2021
Date TBC
Public lecture: Challenging curatorial strategy using subversive strategy
Centring the ontology, gnosis and aesthesis of blackness/indigeneity requires responsiveness from the contemporary art institution. This underscores the project of rethinking and reimagining curatorial strategy such that black/indigenous artists are not marginalised, as has been the case historically. Subsequently, such a framework inspires two considerations: the first deals with the ways in which the work of black/indigenous artists has been theorised; the second is a philosophical consideration that unearths the logic that informs how black artists’ work has been theorised. In posing such a second-order question – a consideration of the aesthesis that informs theory development around black/indigenous artists – we move towards epistemic justice. This public lecture will tease out these two interrelated questions for the purposes of explicating a decolonial aesthesis rooted in theoretical propositions that are themselves decolonial.
Please note that each programme has to be booked at least two days before the event so that we are able to adhere to COVID-19 protocol. To book, email [email protected].
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