The Mentorship Programme has been a successful subsection part of the collaboration between the UJ Art Gallery and the MTN SA Foundation, affording three students at the University of Johannesburg a first-hand experience of curatorial practice that will benefit their future careers.
The mentees participated in master classes which included: Introduction to Cultural Institutions and Collections Management, including practical label making (Rika Nortje), Exhibitions Development and Curation (Khanya Mashabela), Artist Management and Stakeholder Engagement (Niel Nortje) and Social Media (Larissa Meacher).
They were responsible for creating an exhibition catalogue, designing an online educational supplement on Moving Cube and hosting a panel discussion with the exhibiting artists and curator of the MTN X UJ New Contemporary Awards 2022.
Mentees from previous years included Kerry-leigh Cawrse, Oratile Mosimanekgosi and Nyengeterai Wilma Mutize (2021), Angelique Patricia Mary Bougaard, Keneiloe-mpho Mazibuko and Ndaya Kim Ilunga (2020) Jordan Hance, Jaylin Richardson and Gemma Meek (2019) and Mia van Schalkwyk, Nico Ras and Alexia Ferreira (2018).
Jackie Vivian Naidoo
Honours Student in the Field of Visual Arts at the University of Johannesburg.
Jackie Naidoo is a young South African artist who was born in Botswana in 1999, she specializes in sculpture, painting, and drawing. From a young age, Naidoo has always been ambitious to create and experiment with new mediums and themes. She often uses her emotion to fuel her artworks and gathers much of her inspiration from personal tales, experience, and the environment around her. She uses her work to explore topics of migration, displacement, social interaction, and transnationalism.
Her work forces us to interrogate the sense of belonging, of “home,” and foreignness experienced by immigrants who enter host countries. Naidoo currently lives in Johannesburg and has graduated from the University of Johannesburg as a 3rd year Visual Art student. She is currently working on her Honours degree through the University of Johannesburg, through which she strives to achieve her PGCE Certificate and Master’s in Visual Arts. Her natural talent has won her many accolades throughout the course of her academic career. She was selected as one of the students to exhibit her work at the Alliance Françoise Gallery in 2019, Edg2020, and Artist Proof TLC student collection in 2020 and 2021. She was also part of the panel at the 3rd Biennial SOTL in the South Conference in 2021 and was also part of a collaborative project for Documenta 2022.
Ntsikelelo Prince Ngaleka
First Year Student in Construction Management at the University of Johannesburg.
Ntsikelelo Prince Ngaleka is a student at the University of Johannesburg, studying his first year in Construction Management, whilst he is simultaneously a radio producer and presenter with Vow Fm. Ngaleka is a conversationalist and an art enthusiast; he believes strongly in the power of expressing one’s feelings and opinions as it leads to a better understanding of one another within our different societies. Ngaleka is an advocate for self-education, having been strongly inspired by the late John, F. Kennedy as he noted; “Our progression as a nation cannot be any swifter than our progression in education” (JFK, 1961).
Ngaleka he has come to live by a quote by the great Mikhail Bakunin, as he states, “By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what was possible. Those who have cautiously done no more than what they believed possible have never taken a single step forward “.
Liam David Thomas
Honours Student in the Field of Visual Arts at the University of Johannesburg.
Liam David Thomas is a young South African artist who was born in Pretoria in the year 2000. It is in Pretoria where his deep passion for the arts began and has continued to have a profound impact on his art making practice. Thomas is currently based in Johannesburg and is studying at the University of Johannesburg to obtain his Honours Degree in Visual Art. As a visual artist Thomas engages with multiple mediums within his artistic process but is particularly known for his main interest in drawing and sculpture. By drawing from life and sculpting it through the use of various materials, Thomas’ work aims to subvert our understanding of how we perceive and construct identities in the contemporary era. By drawing from the relationship between body and space, his works present an absurdist response to the act of “fitting in” when it comes to constructing an identity. Thomas’ art practice interrogates the politics that exist in the areas he has lived in and how it has affected his own understanding of his identity. His artistic practice extends itself through the exploration of a multitude of mediums and techniques which include painting, printmaking and photography. Thomas’ professional interests also include curation and exhibition installation as a means to extend his presence within different art spaces.
