Thought Leaders Gather for Great Texts/Big Questions

Art and Discontentment in the Time of Decolonising the University

As students’ insurgences toward decolonising the South African university in 2015 and 2016 saw the potency of art to incite debates and catalyse transformation, the role of the creative industries in politics became evident through individual and collective interventions, creative protests and demonstrations.

Now university leaders, students, influential minds and artists gather to exchange thoughts and ideas, and open the dialogue to explore critical issues around art and discontentment in the time of decolonising the university.

Led by artist, curator and art historian, Thembinkosi Goniwe, “Great Texts/Big Questions” lecture series highlights the need to open questions around the reactions and interventions of burning of artworks, removal of artworks from (public) display and subsequent contentious debates around the safety of artworks, silencing of voices, and censorship of expressions.

“Great Texts/Big Questions” is presented by the Institute for Creative Arts (ICA).

WHEN: Thursday 5 October at 6PM – 7:30PM

Refreshments will be served from 5:30PM

WHERE: Hiddingh Hall, UCT Hiddingh Campus, 31 – 37 Orange Street, Cape Town.

Media are invited to attend. Interviews are available.

RSVP to email  / +27 76 1010 421

About Thembinkosi Goniwe

Thembinkosi Goniwe is an artist, curator and art historian whose works have been exhibited both locally and internationally. He has contributed essays to various publications and curated: Space: Currents in Contemporary African Art (2010); Desire: Ideal Narratives in Contemporary South African Art (2011); Impressions of Rorke’s Drift: The Jumuna Collection (2013-2014); Intersections: Negotiating Subjects, Objects and Context (2015) and Andrew Tshabangu: Footprints (2017). In 2016, Goniwe was awarded an ICA Curatorial Fellowship.

 About the ICA

The Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) is an interdisciplinary institute in the University of Cape Town’s Humanities Faculty – formerly the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA). The ICA facilitates research projects in the creative and performing arts that disrupt boundaries, while underscoring creative education and practice across discipline and faculty. Interdisciplinarity, Live Art and Public Spheres are key themes of the Institute, and projects are imbued with innovation, collaboration and a dialogue with urbanism and community.