First year courses
FIN1001W Studiowork 1
Course description
HEQF credits: 72 at level 5.
Compulsory whole-year course.Course code
FIN1001W
Course convenor(s)
Dr S Huigen-Conradie
Course outline
Drawing, two and three-dimensional problem-solving. Projects incorporating: figure-drawing, object-drawing, use of different drawing materials, working procedures and processes, colour theory and its application in painting, three-dimensional work in clay, plaster, cardboard and wood; introduction to the disciplines of New Media, Printmaking and Photography as well as the development of visual research methodologies.
Entrance requirements
This course is open only to students registered for BA(FA).
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 45%, year-end coursework examination 45%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN1005W Fine Art Foundation
Course description
HEQF credits: 36 at level 5.
Compulsory whole-year course.
Course code
FIN1005W
Course convenor(s)
Dr S Mguni
Course outline
The course introduces creative thinking and critical and visual literacy, paying attention to academic reading and writing and communication skills. Case studies will be used to introduce core concepts, issues, theories and approaches to knowledge-construction. The common theme will be "representation and display" and the ways in which this reflects power, politics, gender and identity. Students will be introduced to both African and other comparative examples. This course aims to enable students to articulate and contextualise their own creative production. Visualisation and visual retention will be stressed. Fieldwork in the form of gallery visits introduces art criticism and reporting.
Entrance requirements
This course is open only to students registered for BA(FA).
Lecture times
Tuesday and Thursday, 12h00 to 13h30.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of tutorials, 80% of weekly assignments and satisfactory completion of 1 essay assignment per semester.
Assessment
Semester coursework 70%, 2-hour examination in November 30%.
FIN1006F Introduction to African Art
Course description
HEQF credits: 18 at level 5.
First-year, first-semester course, three lectures per week.Course code
FIN1006F
Course convenor(s)
Professor N Makhubu
Course outline
This course is an introduction to the theory of African Art across different historical periods. It is also an introduction to the complexities and contradictions of ‘modernity’ and ‘modernism(s)’ in postcolonial Africa. With a focus on ideology-driven interdisciplinary artistic movements and 20th Century art schools in Senegal, Nigeria, Sudan, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa, we will examine various schools of thought that were part of modern consciousness which characterised the independence decades. The course includes critical discussion of colonisation and the rise of PanAfricanism, Pan-Arabism and nationalism during the independence decades. The anti-colonial nationalist struggle in Africa is characterised by the formal appropriation of languages and visual aesthetics, globally. We debate the complexity of this appropriation and its significance in the nationalist struggle through a critique of unilinear progress from tradition to modernity (transfer of technology and political systems [civil society and African state]). Aimed at undermining colonial ideological foundations, African nationalism is characterized by literacy, cultural revival (traditionalist and neo-African), and a quest for African history. Through dialogue, debate and discussion this course provides a forum for critical thinking on art history and African art.
Entrance requirements
None
Lecture times
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 5th period, Upper Campus
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of tutorials and satisfactory completion of 2 assignments per semester. Late essays penalised by 5% per day (including weekends).
Assessment
Semester coursework 60%, 2-hour examination 40%.
FIN1009S Approaches to Art History
Course description
HEQF credits: 15 at level 5.
First year, second semester courseCourse code
FIN1009S
Course Convenor
Dr Amie Soudien
Course outline
This course examines some of the foundational issues of academic art history. How and where did the study of art history begin, and what were its founding principles? We consider its origins in the late 19th century and then trace how it has changed in the course of the succeeding century and into the contemporary period. We look at debates over issues of aesthetic quality, questions of the relationship between art and society, questions of the art-historical canon and its exclusions. The core theme is art history as a subject of academic study, but this inevitably links to broader issues of how art is taught within the art school and of how art is exhibited within the museum.
Entrance requirements
None
Lecture times
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday – 5th period.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of tutorials and satisfactory completion of 2 assignments per semester. Late essays penalised by 5% per day (including weekends).
Assessment
Coursework (50%), 2 hour examination (50%)
Second year courses
FIN2011W Painting 2
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 6.
Optional whole-year course.Course code
FIN2011W
Course convenor(s)
G Van Der Byl
Course outline
This course provides a broad exposure to a range of painting techniques including acrylic and oil. Projects emphasise mimetic skills, the development of colour and composition, and painting in the expanded field. The course demands a conceptual engagement with contemporary painting and the genres of landscape, narrative and still life are critically addressed.
Entrance requirements
FIN1001W Studiowork 1. Due to the nature of the discipline, spatial and technical limitations and Health and Safety legislation, student numbers will be limited and students’ results will be taken into consideration.
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 45%, year-end coursework examination 45%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN2012W Sculpture 2
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 6.
Optional whole-year course.Course code
FIN2012W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor J van der Schijff
Course outline
This course introduces the theory and practice of conventional sculpture techniques as well as contemporary forms of three-dimensional construction, emphasising the development of concepts in relation to particular skills. Projects include: metalwork; modelling and the casting of multiples; woodwork.
Entrance requirements
FIN1001W Studiowork 1. Due to the nature of the discipline, spatial and technical limitations and Health and Safety legislation, student numbers will be limited and students’ results will be taken into consideration.
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 45%, year-end coursework examination 45%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN2013W Photography 2
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 6.
Optional whole-year course.Course code
FIN2013W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor J Brundrit
Course outline
This course introduces the theory and practice of photography. Technical, conceptual and critical skills are taught through specific problem-solving projects. Students are encouraged to refer to relevant contemporary and historical practice and theory to inform their work. This course may include an introduction to portraiture, documentary and narrative photography, street photography, and related topics such as ethics and voyeurism. A number of technical skills are taught including colour and black and white photography; digital and camera skills; artificial and low-light photography; and basic digital image manipulation for print.
Entrance requirements
FIN1001W Studiowork 1
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 45%, year-end coursework examination 45%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN2024W Printmedia 2
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 6.
Optional whole-year course.Course code
FIN2024W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor F Langerman
Course outline
This course introduces the theory and practice of printmaking and projects demand a conceptual engagement with both the historical and contemporary aspects of the discipline. Processes include intaglio, relief and lithographic techniques as well as book arts. Students are introduced to aspects of printmaking such as editioning, paper care, print collections and the traditions of the print studio.
Entrance requirements
FIN1001W Studiowork 1. Due to the nature of the discipline, spatial and technical limitations and Health and Safety legislation, student numbers will be limited and students’ results will be taken into consideration.
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 45%, year-end coursework examination 45%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN2026W Core Practice 2
Course description
HEQF credits: 36 at level 6.
Compulsory whole-year course.Course code
FIN2026W
Course convenor(s)
G Van Der Byl
Course outline
This course is divided into four thematic projects. Within these sessions traditional, exploratory and contemporary approaches to drawing will be presented as well as an introduction to digital technologies. The focus is on developing observational, perceptual and formal sensitivity as well as encouraging creative and conceptual approaches to production through both drawing and digital means. The development of visual research methodology is emphasised.
Entrance requirements
FIN1001W Studiowork 1
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 40%, year-end coursework examination 40%. 20% year mark derived from the visual research book.
FIN2028S Discursive Strategies: Innovation and Adaption
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 6.
Second-year, second-semester course.Course code
FIN2028S
Course convenor(s)
Dr T Monoa
Course outline
This course explores the urban environment in contemporary art practice and theory. We consider in particular the artist and artistic collectives focusing on the city, urban life, space, the body and technologies in Africa and across the globe. In part of the course students will engage the city in their own creative practice. Students will build skills in visual analysis, critical thinking and writing about art and visual imagery as well as approaches to visual and textual research. Fieldwork introduces site-specific practice.
Entrance requirements
FIN1006F and FIN1009S
Lecture times
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 4th period
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of tutorials and satisfactory completion of 2 assignments per semester. Late essays penalised by 5% per day (including weekends).
Assessment
Semester coursework 50%, 2-hour examination 50%.
FIN2029F: Envisioning the body: Representation of the Human in Art and Visual Culture
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 6.
Second-year, first-semester course.Course code
FIN2029F
Course convenor(s)
Dr Amie Soudien
Course outline
The human body has been central to art throughout its history. This course examines some of the many ways in which the body has been visualized and some of the manifold expressive purposes it has fulfilled. Themes vary from year to year but many include: nakedness versus nudity, the tradition of figure drawing, the ideal and the abject body, the body in space, reading gesture and pose, and the significance of costume in art.
Entrance requirements
FIN1006F and FIN1009S or at least 2 courses in historical, social science or cultural studies offered by the Faculty of Humanities, or by permission of the Head of Department.
Lecture times
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in 2nd period
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of tutorials and satisfactory completion of 2 assignments per semester. Late essays penalised by 5% per day (including weekends).
Assessment
Coursework 50%, 2-hour examination in June 50%.
Third year courses
FIN3011W Painting 3
Course description
HEQF credits: 60 at level 7.
Optional whole-year course.Course code
FIN3011W
Course convenor(s)
F Saptouw
Course outline
First semester: Surface and medium are key components in the generation of meaning in contemporary painting. Students are expected to explore historical precedents from 20th century modernism and postmodernism and to create works where the implications of surface and materiality in painting are primary. Students are required to expand the range of painting medium and consider using substances that might function as alternatives to paint, thereby expanding the range of paint beyond that which is commercially available. Traditional supports may be used or alternatives considered. Scale and format are also examined to encourage students to move beyond the conventions of the rectangle. After immersion into alternative media students are then engaged in ideas generation and conceptual responses to painting. Historically rooted in modernist minimalism and conceptualism, process work is key here. Second semester: Utilising the ideas and methods generated in the first semester students move into a self-motivated development of their own work conceived within the terrain of contemporary painting.
Entrance requirements
FIN2011W Painting 2. Due to the nature of the discipline, spatial and technical limitations and Health and Safety legislation, student numbers will be limited and students’ results will be taken into consideration.
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 40%, year-end coursework examination 50%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN3012W Sculpture 3
Course description
HEQF credits: 60 at level 7.
Optional whole-year course.Course code
FIN3012W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor J van der Schijff
Course outline
During the first semester advanced sculpture techniques are introduced, building on the technical, conceptual and critical skills learnt during the second year of study. These include bronze casting and contemporary three-dimensional art forms such as site-specific installation. In the second semester, students are required to work on a self-motivated project, drawing on ideas and methods developed in earlier projects to produce a coherent body of work. Students are encouraged to continue to explore relevant contemporary theory and practice, as well as historical examples to inform their practice.
Entrance requirements
FIN2012W Sculpture 2. Due to the nature of the discipline, spatial and technical limitations and Health and Safety legislation, student numbers will be limited and students’ results will be taken into consideration.
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 40%, year-end coursework examination 50%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN3013W Photography 3
Course description
HEQF credits: 60 at level 7.
Optional whole-year course.Course code
FIN3013W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor S Josephy
Course outline
This is an advanced course on the theory and practice of photography. It builds on the technical, conceptual and critical skills learnt during the second year of study. Projects encourage an exploration of the medium and emphasise the generation of ideas. Students are exposed to studio and advanced photographic lighting techniques, various format cameras and postproduction skills through specific problem solving projects. During the second semester students work on a selfmotivated project, which draws upon their previous photographic knowledge and further develops personal expression and critical understanding. Students are encouraged to explore relevant contemporary practice and theory, as well as historical examples to inform their practice. Fieldwork introduces new technology and methodology as well as conceptual thinking in alternative environments.
Entrance requirements
FIN2013W Photography 2. Due to the nature of the discipline, spatial and technical limitations and Health and Safety legislation, student numbers will be limited and students’ results will be taken into consideration.
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 40%, year-end coursework examination 50%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN3024W Printmedia 3
Course description
HEQF credits: 60 at level 7.
Optional whole-year course.Course code
FIN3024W
Course convenor(s)
Dr S Huigen-Conradie
Course outline
Advanced printmaking techniques are introduced in the first semester. These include photomechanical print technologies: lithography and screen printing; colour printing; digital applications used in the production of books; curatorship; catalogue and exhibition design. Conceptual emphasis is on the expansion of notions of print. Ideas generated and technologies learned in the first semester are used toward a self-motivated area of study in the second semester. Fieldwork introduces industrial methodology and processing techniques.
Entrance requirements
FIN2024W Printmedia 2. Due to the nature of the discipline, spatial and technical limitations and Health and Safety legislation, student numbers will be limited and students’ results will be taken into consideration.
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 40%, year-end coursework examination 50%, attendance & participation 10%.
FIN3030W Studiowork 3 Electives
Course description
36 NQF credits at HEQSF level 7
Compulsory (core) whole-year course. Students are required to choose two electives from the following options (in some years, not all options will be available): Videography, Animation and motion graphics, Curatorship, Lithography and screen-printing, Computer aided design, Social responsibility, Physical computing, Historical photographic processes and Environmental Interventions.
Course code
FIN3030W
Course convenor(s)
Professor B Searle
Course outline
This course exposes students to alternative forms of art production outside of their major studio work areas. Contemporary in orientation, the various sub-courses will familiarise students with developments in digital image production, video editing and computer aided design as well as social responsiveness and curatorship. A strong creative relationship to other studio work options will be sought. Fieldwork introduces new technologies and methodologies as well as industrial applications of computer design and manufacturing techniques.
Entrance requirements
FIN2026W and two of FIN2011W, FIN2012W, FIN2013W, FIN2024W, FIN2025W
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques, satisfactory completion of all projects.
Assessment
Mid-year coursework examination 50%, year-end coursework examination 50%.
FIN3026F New Art: New Perspectives
Course description
HEQF credits: 30 at level 7.
Third-year, first-semester course.Course code
FIN3026F
Course convenor(s)
Dr T Monoa
Course outline
This course focuses on the way developments in technology have transformed contemporary artistic practice, theory and reception. Included here is coverage of African and global art practice, as well as artistic practice deeply involved with new forms of social networking, comic books and video games. Students will develop advanced skills in visual analysis, critical thinking and writing about art and visual imagery, visual and textual research approaches.
Entrance requirements
FIN2027H and FIN2028S
Lecture times
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 3rd period.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of tutorials and satisfactory completion of 2 assignments per semester. Late essays penalised by 5% per day (including weekends).
Assessment
Semester coursework 50% and 2-hour examination 50%.
FIN3027S Critical Curatorial Praxes
Course description
HEQF credits: 30 at level 7.
Third-year, second-semester course, one lecture per week.Course code
FIN3027S
Course convenor(s)
Dr Portia Malatjie
Course outline
This course focuses on a basic understanding the history and development of key concepts underpinning contemporary art practice and theory, including ‘modernity’, ‘postmodernity’, ‘postcoloniality’, ‘subjectivity’, ‘otherness’, ‘image’, ‘art’, and ‘aesthetics’. This focus will enable students to situate their own creative practice within the contemporary moment. Students will develop advanced skills in visual analysis, critical thinking and writing about art and visual imagery as well as approaches to visual and textual research.
Entrance requirements
FIN2027F and FIN2028S
Lecture times
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 3rd period.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance of tutorials and supervisory meetings. Adequate submission of semester assignments.
Assessment
Semester coursework and presentation of seminar paper 50%; 2-hour examination 50%. Late essays penalised by 5% per day (including weekends.)
FIN3028F Race, Gender and Decolonial Praxis
Course description
HEQF credits: 30 at level 7.
Third-year, first-semester course.Course code
FIN3028F
Course convenor(s)
Dr Portia Malatjie
Course outline
This course considers decolonial artistic and curatorial praxes by focusing on blackness, neoliberalism, decoloniality, fat studies, disability studies, spirituality, sound studies, race and technology, and rest. It unpacks notions of normativity that are at the root of colonial and neoliberal frameworks, and considers ways in which these normative structures might be disrupted and undermined. Through a critical analysis of theory, politics and practice, the course is aimed at facilitating discussions about intersecting discourses of class, gender, race and sexuality. It centres debates, discussions, and critical thinking that move beyond pre-determined and limiting modes of engaging with artistic practice. Focusing on the Global South, students will learn different approaches to transdisciplinary and decolonial critical methodologies, with a keen focus on modes of resistance, refusal and fugitivity.
Entrance requirements
FIN1006F, FIN1009S, and two of the following: FIN2027F; FIN2028S; FIN2029F; FIN2030S.
Lecture times
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 5th period.
Dp requirements
At least 80% attendance at tutorials and satisfactory completion of written assignments. Late essays penalised by 5% per day (including weekends).
Assessment
Semester coursework 60%; 2-hour examination 40%.
FIN3029S Borders and Social Justice in the Arts
Course description
HEQF credits: 30 at level 7.
Third-year, second-semester course.Course code
FIN3029S
Course convenor(s)
Dr Nomusa Makhubu
Course outline
This course examines selected case studies of art interventions advocating for social justice in relation to migration and mobility across political, cultural and social borders. We discuss spatial scales, globalisation, borderlands, internal conflicts, statelessness, exile, fugitivity, affective publics, marginality, citizenship and belonging. Through the inter-disciplinary field of visual culture and what has been characterised as the ‘spatial turn’ in the arts and cultural studies, the course takes critical approaches to the mutually dependent notions of space and place. Although there is emphasis on visual culture, this course is rooted in art history, architecture and/or the built environment. The notion that “place is involved with embodiment” positions bodies as central loci from which space is understood. Bodies inhabit and perform in space. The course focusses on relations between space, time and the body. Regulations of space are, in effect, regulations of the body. Here we consider the distinctions of public and private domains as well as modes of access and concepts of belonging or not belonging, being ‘native’ or ‘foreign’.
Entrance requirements
FIN1006F, FIN1009S, and two of the following: FIN2027F; FIN2028S; FIN2029F; FIN2030S.
Lecture times
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 5th period.
Dp requirements
50% of coursework completed and satisfactory submission of research paper. Late essays penalised by 5% per day (including weekends).
Assessment
Assignments 15%, Research paper 85%.
Fourth year courses
FIN4012W Theory and Practice of Art
Course description
48 NQF credits at HEQSF level 8
Course code
FIN4012W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor Kurt Campbell
Course outline
This course examines the place of the artist in contemporary society and the skills and tools (both practical and theoretical) that may be needed to traverse this terrain. Through the course students will be exposed to the conventions of professional art practice; examine the relationship between theory and practice; look at how the current internal art world is structured and discuss the economics and ethics of art production both globally and locally. They will learn to write catalogue essays and design exhibition catalogues.
Entrance requirements
FIN2027F, FIN2028S and a pass in both Studiowork 3 courses.
Lecture times
Wednesday, 3rd and 4th period
Dp requirements
The submission of satisfactory assignments and satisfactory participation in the work of the class
Assessment
Research essay on a South African artist: 30%; Catalogue of professional practice: 20%; Senior theoretical essay: 50%
FIN4015W Fine Art 4
Course description
HEQF credits: 108 at level 8.
Compulsory whole-year course.Course code
FIN4015W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor Svea Josephy
Course outline
This course is self-motivated study and research into an area of contemporary fine art practice that may include painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography or the expanded field of contemporary art, including Interdisciplinarity. Familiarisation with the historical and contemporary trajectories of the chosen practice is emphasised, as are display and exhibition methodologies. Students work towards an exhibition or other realisation presented at the end of the year. Students work in consultation with supervisors and peers in a studio-based learning student-centered model.
Entrance requirements
Both FIN3000 level third-year Studiowork courses.
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00
Dp requirements
Satisfactory presentation of coursework at mid-year assessment, at least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques.
Assessment
Year-end coursework examination 100%
Postgraduate courses
FIN5008W Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art
Course description
The Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art offers a coherent, graduate study path for artists and teachers who have Fine Art degrees and wish to upgrade their academic status, or those who have not yet acquired degree status, but who hold recognised diplomas in aspects of the visual arts.
This programme develops practical skills and conceptual thinking in fine art practice. Students work within a studio of senior students and develop a practical proposal of choice. This culminates in a professional exhibition at the end of the year of study that demonstrates a sound understanding of contemporary practice.
The submission is accompanied by a visual catalogue with an introductory essay. A weekly reading group introduces core readings and critical issues.
Applicants must submit the following:
(a) A portfolio of recent work on CD in PDF format not exceeding 10MB file size;
(c) A statement of motivation that outlines a research project for the year (500 -1000 words).
a) Portfolio:
The portfolio must represent a recent body of work or a previous body of work that gives the higher degrees committee an indication of the direction you wish to pursue while registered. This work, including your name, title of each work and medium used, must be submitted in PDF format on a CD not exceeding 10MB file size. Please check that your CD is working and is formatted to be read on all computers (MAC and PC)
Course code
FIN5008W
Course outline
The diploma programme provides a framework for a one-year course of practical creative study, technical study or materials research in a chosen discipline, process or medium. The Michaelis School of Fine Art will appoint a supervisor for each candidate enrolled in the programme.
Assessment:
- Students enrolled in the programme will offer for examination an exhibition of creative work at the end of the academic year in which they wish to graduate. This creative work must have been completed during the period of registration and must not have been exhibited prior to examination. In the event that the work is exhibited publicly after the successful completion of the diploma, acknowledgement must be made to the School and the University.
- See also: Michaelis School of Fine Art, “Guidelines for the documentation of practical work”.
- The Postgraduate Diploma in Art may be awarded with Distinction, or at the level of a Pass. No re-submission is possible in the event of a Fail.
Entrance requirements
- Faculty requirements are set out under Rule FG3.
- Programme requirements:
Admission to the Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art is subject to the submission and acceptance of a portfolio of recent creative work and the availability of appropriate teaching staff and studio space. Acceptance is on the recommendation of the Head of Department. - The deadline for receipt of these application materials is 31 October each year. Late applications may be considered at the discretion of the School.
FIN4055S Reading Course in Art Historical Studies
Course description
24 at NQF level 8
Course code
FIN4055S
Course convenor(s)
Dr Thabang Monoa
Course outline
This course offers a series of reading seminars offering critical analysis of foundational texts. The texts explore key issues and approaches that have formed the basis of debate in art history and visual culture over the past century. Discussion arising from these texts is designed to facilitate research for the long research essay (FIN4050W).
Entrance requirements
Acceptance for an Honours or Master’s programme.
Dp requirements
Attendance at all seminars and completion of all written work.
Assessment
Formal examination (40%).
FIN4054F Critical Issues in Contemporary Art
Course description
24 at NQF level 8
Course code
FIN4054F
Course convenor(s)
Professor Nomusa Makhubu
Course outline
This course brings together a variety of theoretical texts that may assist in understanding the diverse production and complex character of the contemporary art world. Central to this inquiry stands the notion of identity, a concept that seems to inform much of contemporary art. We will trace shifting conceptions of this notion over the last three decades, from the initial moments of identity politics, to the articulation of identity as performative, to current ventures into a post-identitarian world.
Entrance requirements
Acceptance for an Honours or Master’s programme.
Dp requirements
Attendance at all seminars and completion of all written work.
Assessment
Examined by coursework 100%
FIN4053S Studies in Historiography of Art
Course description
24 at NQF level 8
Course code
FIN4053S
Course convenor(s)
Dr Portia Malatjie
Course outline
Material artefacts are mute, but our understanding of them is communicated in words. With a focus on a topical issue or a genre of art, this course examines the relationship between artefacts and the texts that attempt to explain them. How do art-historical texts and related forms of writing offer insight into the works they discuss? Can they, contrary to intentions, sometimes form a barrier between viewer and work? And what is their role in gathering works into schools, movements and genres? This course examines aspects of the multi-faceted role of words as explicators of visual artefacts.
Entrance requirements
Acceptance for an Honours programme.
Dp requirements
Attendance at all seminars and completion of all written work.
Assessment
Examined by combination of coursework (60%) and formal examination (40%).
FIN4052F The Politics and Ethics of Collecting
Course description
24 at NQF level 8
Course code
FIN4052F
Course convenor(s)
Dr Amie Soudien
Course outline
This course considers the history of collecting by examining how acquisitions have been precipitated by economic, political, and epistemic sensibilities. Students are asked to critically examine the historical co-formation of art, archival and anthropological collections in a plethora of contexts to explore the inherited infrastructures and collecting conventions curators and other art practitioners work within today.
Entrance requirements
Acceptance for an Honours or Master’s programme.
Dp requirements
Attendance at all seminars and completion of all written work.
Assessment
Examined by combination of coursework (60%) and formal examination (40%)./p>
FIN4051S Art Criticism and Aesthetic Theory
Course description
24 at NQF Level 8
Course code
FIN4051S
Course convenor(s)
Dr Thabang Monoa
Course outline
This is an elective course, which offers advanced knowledge in aesthetic theory and art criticism and how the two intersect at the level of discourse. This course aims to introduce to student’s key concepts and methods prevalent in art criticism while interrogating artistic responses to social, historical, political, and cultural phenomena through aesthetic theory. The course equips students with critical thinking skills and generates awareness of debates pertaining to different approaches to contemporary art and different exhibition cultures. Fieldwork in the form of gallery, museum and other sites of art making is integral in this course; students will be expected to respond to exhibitions and texts through discursive engagements.
Entrance requirements
Acceptance for an Honours or Master’s programme.
Dp requirements
Attendance at all seminars and completion of all written work.
Assessment
Examined by coursework (100%).
FIN4050W Research Essay/Project
Course description
30 at NQF level 8
Course code
FIN4050W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor George Mahashe
Course outline
An appropriate research paper of approximately 15,000 words in length, or project with catalogue, chosen in consultation with the convener of the Art Historical Studies Honours programme OR the Curatorship Honours programme. Draft chapters of the research essay must be submitted by stipulated dates and the completed project must be submitted by no later than 30 October (Curatorship – 28 October).
Entrance requirements
Acceptance for an Honours programme.
Dp requirements
Attendance at all seminars and completion of all written work.
Assessment
Art Historical Studies - 15000 word essay, Curatorship – 15000 word essay or project with 7500 catalogue essay.
FIN4061S Local issues in curatorship
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 8.
Elective course.Course code
FIN4061S
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor Goerge Mahashe
Course outline
In this course, students will focus on developing their insight into the local and contemporary issues impacting curatorial practice, and specifically the way in which the colonial legacy of South Africa continue to affect this practice. At the heart of this investigation are the three areas of “care”, “visibility” and “embodiment”. These notions speak to the task of local curators in relation to justice and restoration, latent collections and absence, as well as public vs. private space, ownership and agency. In order to address these issues, students will critically engage with existing material in the University of Cape Town, IZIKO, and city collections; and draw on current events and developments in the local context. With this focus on local issues, students will be required to conceptualise the specific relationship between the museum and its publics in a way that is embedded in and speaks to the South African and African context. Students will further be challenged to imagine ways in which imaginative curatorship of historical material might serve to challenge existing hierarchies and knowledge production. Field trips will be organised with on-site discussions about current exhibitions and displays.
Entrance requirements
Acceptance into the Honours in Curatorship programme.
Lecture times
First semester course in 2018.
FIN4060S Virtual Display
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 8.
Elective course.Course code
FIN4060S
Course convenor(s)
Fabian Saptouw
Course outline
In this course, students will be required to translate their Research Project into the virtual domain. They will need to take into account not only the context of this space, but also the objects/artworks discussed or exhibited as part of their research, investigating different taxonomies and displays, as well as various possible approaches to interpretation. A historical overview of the virtual (from the panorama and diorama to current artistic and curatorial practices in the virtual realm) will be paired with practical and successful strategies of artists, curators and gallerists using social networking as a tool for increasing global visibility and community outreach. The elective will result in the translation of the research project in multiple online curatorial platforms. Training and support will be provided by a developer who will facilitate online exhibitions.
Entrance requirements
Acceptance into the Honours in Curatorship programme.
Lecture times
1 double seminar per week x 10 (second semester)
FIN4059F Working with Collections
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 8.
Elective course.Course code
FIN4059F
Course convenor(s)
Dr Siyakha Mguni
Course outline
This course explores museum collections as resources for research, interpretation and exhibition. To be an effective curator of a collection requires a broad, holistic understanding of the collection, including its historical, social, aesthetic and scientific contexts. A curator also needs to acquire specialized knowledge to unlock the research and educational potential of the collection, and make it accessible to broad audiences through exhibitions and public programmes. The focus of the course is interdisciplinary and outcomes include: ability to apply research methodology in interpreting and representing museum objects, tracing provenance and significance of collections; understanding of the relationship between the tangible and intangible aspects of collections, and hands-on experience of working with museum collections. Museum and site visits provide the basis for critical engagement with collections and curators. The course also introduces students to the ethical considerations and challenges that are presented by different objects in museum collections.
Entrance requirements
Acceptance into the Honours in Curatorship programme.
Lecture times
Second semester in 2018.
FIN4056F Critical Thinking in Curatorship
Course description
HEQF credits: 24 at level 8.
Compulsory course.Course code
FIN4056F
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor George Mahashe
Course outline
The first part of this course will introduce students to critical practice around curatorship, and interrogate the meaning of the term in different spaces and contexts. Students will be exposed to institutional and independent curatorial practices, as well as to the practicalities of mounting critical curatorial programmes. The course will also examine the responsibilities of the curator to the public with a strong focus on African issues and communities. In the second part of this course, students will deepen their critical understanding of the various intellectual frameworks that inform curatorship practices. Special attention will be given to contemporary artists and curators who have engaged beyond the museum, as well as critical texts on these works. Imaginative approaches to the curatorial, and strategies of rendering ideas public will be examined through specific local and foreign case studies.
Entrance requirements
Acceptance into the Honours in Curatorship programme.
Lecture times
1 double seminar per week x 10 (first semester)
FIN4050W Curatorship Research Essay/Project
Course description
HEQF credits: 108 at level 8.
Compulsory whole-year course.Course code
FIN4015W
Course convenor(s)
Associate Professor George Mahashe
Course outline
An appropriate research paper of approximately 15,000 words in length, or project with catalogue, chosen in consultation with the convener of the Art Historical Studies Honours programme OR the Curatorship Honours programme. Draft chapters of the research essay must be submitted by stipulated dates and the completed project must be submitted by no later than 30 October (Curatorship – 28 October).
Entrance requirements
A FIN3000W third-year studiowork course
Lecture times
Monday to Friday, 09h00 to 17h00
Dp requirements
Satisfactory presentation of coursework at mid-year assessment, at least 80% attendance of studio classes and critiques.
Assessment
Year-end coursework examination 100%