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PRESS RELEASE
52 artists exhibiting - Michaelis Art Show Graduation Exhibition
University of Cape Town Michaelis School of Fine Art
Hiddingh Campus, 32-37 Orange Street, Cape Town
Opening 5 December 2012 at 6pm
Entrance Free
The University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art, will host its annual Graduate
Exhibition at Hiddingh Campus on 5 December 2012. This graduation event draws crowds in
excess of 500 people to the beautiful historical campus of UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Art.
A catalogue will be available to accompany the exhibition, which is on view in over 30 spaces on
the UCT Hiddingh campus. During the festive atmosphere of the opening night live music will be
played and refreshments served.
The exhibition features the final year work of students completing their Bachelor in Fine Arts
Degree as well as Post Graduate Diplomas in Fine Art. A broad selection of painting, sculpture,
new media, print and photographic works from the country’s premier art school will be
showcased.
This show is a culmination of a four-year Bachelor Degree or Post Graduate Diploma and is for
the students the point of departure into a promising future. For art-lovers it has become
tradition to attend the Michaelis Graduation Show opening to see the newest crop of talented
and ambitious young artist – and to snap up some of their work at bargain prices.
The exhibition will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 16:00, from 5–19 December
2012.
For more information or images please contact:
Nadja Daehnke
021 480 7170
082 316 5272
nadja.daehnke@uct.ac.za
HIGHLIGHTS: NEWS ON MICHAELIS GRADUATES WHO ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE
MICHAELIS GRADUATION EXHIBITION
Mia Swanepoel was awarded Honourable Mention in the International Photography Awards, a
prestigious global photography award, with non-professionals, professional and student
photographers participating. The award is in its tenth year and prizes include international
recognition and cash prizes that assist photographers to follow their passion.
Nobukho Nqaba was awarded the 2012 Tierney Fellowship. This prestigious fellowship was
created in order to find and support emerging artists in the field of photography. Fellows are
sponsored and receive mentorship from seasoned and well-known photographers for one year.
At the end of the year, fellows are given the opportunity to showcase their new work.
In April 2012, Liona Nyariri and Roxy Kaczmarek were awarded gold medals in Photography
and Printmaking respectively at the Absa Art and Life Awards. This awards initiative was
created to raise funds for selected charities while supporting the arts. This year they hosted an
art competition were students in all artistic fields were invited to participate.
Sethembile Msezane and Chris Van Eerden, were awarded the Mellon Foundation Travel
Bursary. In September 2012. They travelled to dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel, Germany to view the
exhibition in order to contextualise their work in comparison to global contemporary art.
Michaelis students Chris Van Eerden, Kerry Chaloner and Matthew Alexander King in August
curated and organised the one-night fundraising exhibition and auction Mistakes. Participants
were invited to consider what constitutes “normal” or “correct” art practice, and how mistakes
or errors in process can generate a fertile ground for development. This successful exhibition
owed thanks to the generous donation of a painting to raffle off by well nown artist and UCT
academic Penny Siopis, and the generous patrons who attended the auction, with funds going to
bursaries at the Michaelis art school
Photography students, Michaela Limberis, Adam Bothas, Nobukho Nqaba, Sethembile Msezane
and Liona Nyariri, recently took part in the multi-venue exhibition and festival The Cape Town
Month of Photography. This included various group shows during August and September and a
presentation at the Art’s Lounge, Grahamstown National Arts Festival.
BACKGROUND: HISTORY OF AND INFORMATION ON MICHAELIS SCHOOL OF FINE ART, UCT
The Michaelis School of Fine Art is the Department of Fine Art of the University of Cape Town.
The Chair of Fine Art was endowed by Sir Max Michaelis in 1920, his object being to give South
Africans the opportunity to study art. The School offers a four year Bachelor of Fine Art (BA Fine
Art) programme, as well as Postgraduate Diploma in Art, Master of Philosophy (M Phil), Master
of Fine Art (MFA) and Master of Arts in Fine Art (MA Fine Art) programmes. Distinguished
artists and scholars are regularly invited to lecture and teach at the School. The School has
places for about 180 undergraduate and 20 postgraduate students, and presents an exhibition
of the work of graduating students in December each year.
The Art School is situated in Cape Town in the group of buildings around the Hiddingh Hall,
between Orange Street and the upper end of the Avenue, in the Gardens. This complex is known
as the Hiddingh Campus and forms the nucleus of the original historical campus of the South
African College, later the University of Cape Town. The Egyptian Building dates from 1839 and
is the oldest building in South Africa built for tertiary education. It is proclaimed a national
monument.
The Art School incorporates sections of Painting, Sculpture, Printmedia, Photography and New
Media, LLAREC, the Katrine Harries Print Cabinet, and the School’s Art Gallery. Buildings on the
Hiddingh campus also house the Department of Drama, the Little Theatre, Arena Theatre,
Hiddingh Hall Library and the Bertram House Museum. The Hiddingh Campus is in close
proximity to the S A National Gallery, S A Museum, National Library of South Africa, Houses of
Parliament and Cape Town’s old CBD. A shuttle service links the campus with the main
university campus in Rondebosch.
IMAGES ATTACHED
Additional and high resolution images are available
artist: Nobukho Nqaba
title: Untitled
media: photographic print
artist: Nicole Fraser
title: Officers Ballroom
media: photographic print
artist: Liesl Potgieter
title: Untitled
media: photographic print
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR IMAGES PLEASE CONTACT:
Nadja Daehnke
Curator of the Michaelis Galleries and curator and organizer of the
Michaelis Graduate Exhibition
021 480 7170
082 316 5272
nadja.daehnke@uct.ac.za
or visit: http://www.michaelis.uct.ac.za/
Ends