The Mentorship Programme has been a successful subsection part of the collaboration between the UJ Art Gallery and the MTN SA Foundation, affording three final year students at the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (UJ), a first-hand experience of curatorial practice that will benefit their future careers.
The three mentees of 2021, Kerry-leigh Cawrse, Oratile Mosimanekgosi and Nyengeterai Wilma Mutize attended master classes on collection management and curatorial practice, practical in-house label making, marketing, social media planning and content development and participated in installation of the exhibition at the UJ Art Gallery.
Mentees from previous years included Mia van Schalkwyk, Nico Ras and Alexia Ferreira (2018) and Jordan Hance, Jaylin Richardson and Gemma Meek (2019) and Angelique Bougaard, Mpho Mazikuko and Ndaya Kim Ilunga (2020).
Kerry-leigh Cawrse
Kerry-leigh was born 1999 in Johannesburg. She attended Fourways High School and matriculated in 2017, obtaining a National Senior Certificate (NSC) with three distinctions. She later obtained her undergraduate bachelor’s degree of Visual art(cum laude) at the University of Johannesburg in 2020. She is currently completing her Honors degree in Visual art at the University of Johannesburg. Her artistic explorations transpire through a multitude of mediums, namely, painting, sculpture and photography. Her work considers an introspective exploration of the body and its relationship with its surroundings.
Oratile Mosimanekgosi
‘I am a vibrant young artist from Johannesburg who is pursuing a career in art gallery curation. I discovered my love for art in primary school when I was introduced to after school art class and I nurtured that passion throughout high school by pursuing design studies as a subject major in high school and finally studying towards a BA in Visual Art through the University of Johannesburg.
When I’m not making art, I can be found obsessing over animation and film productions from the 1950s, trying to tame my afro and simply enjoying my time with friends and family.’
Nyengeterai Wilma Mutize
Wilma is an up coming visual artist interested in exploring the world of Anthropocene, looking at human influence on the environment.
‘I have grown up on different soils in the Southern part of Africa experiencing different cultures.’ She likes the colour purple and as well the book ‘The Colour Purple’ and she would like to become a curator in the long run, as well as, an Art Director among many other things. Wilma’s motto in life is “you will rest when you die”, so work until you cannot work anymore. Wilma is currently studying for her Bachelors Degree in Visual Art at the University of Johannesburg.
