Media, Visual Arts and Drama

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Lost in transformation : a critical study of two South African museums.
(2008) Rodéhn, Cecilia Margareta Olofsdotter.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.
In this dissertation Transformation, as understood in South Africa, is investigated in the ‘Natal Museum’ and the ‘Msunduzi Museum Incorporating the Voortrekker Complex’ in terms of socio-political structures, the museum as a place, its collections and displays. I have emphasised the ethnographical perspective and analysed it by using key concepts such as new museology, time, space and place. My research focuses on the perception and mediation by museum staff-members of Transformation which is compared and positioned against South African and international museological theoretical discourses. I further explore the political backdrop to Transformation of South African museums and discuss related problems and aspects such as reconciliation, nation-building and the African Renaissance. Socio-political structures, acts, reports and policy documents are analysed over a long temporal sequence, but focus on the period 1980-2007. The long temporal sequence is a tool to capture the development connected to the museums in space and time and aims to compare and present previous developments in order to investigate how Transformation positioned itself as against the past. I hold that Transformation should be treated as an ongoing process connected to other transformation processes across time. I also propose that Transformation started earlier than previously suggested and that it is not a question of one Transformation but of many transformation processes. The urban landscape and the concept of place and name are explored. My research examines the urban landscape from the establishment of Pietermaritzburg to study how the museums were positioned in the landscape and how this has contributed to associated meanings. The museums are treated as demarcated places in the urban landscape which are named and infused with meaning and ownership. The museums are constituted and acted out within specific socio-political structures. The dissertation suggests that the objectives of Transformation reveal themselves through negotiation and alteration of place and name. My research explores the history of the museum collections – how objects were acquired, classified and used to materialise the museums´ institutionalisation of time and what this brought about for heritage production. I investigate what did and did not change when the museums transformed and I deconstruct the new and old objectives and socio-political ideas of collections. I analyse displays as socio-political spaces, the agent’s appropriation, and the discrepancies within dominant socio-political structures. When Transformation materialises in displays it becomes visible for the public to see. The negotiated displays show how the museum tries to visualise Transformation to the public. The discussion analyses the discussed concepts of Transformation, the structures, place, name, display and collection, and relates these to the concept of time, and to how agents create time and make it visual. I also discuss how museological writing and political speeches shape and negotiate Transformation through their articulation and how they sometimes constrain and form discrepancies to actual reality.
Africa in travel journalism : a postcolonial comparative study of the representation of Africa in the travel magazines Getaway, Africa geographic and Travel Africa.
(2010) Dickinson, Ian.; Moodley, Subeshini.
My research examines how Africa is represented within the meaning-making arena of travel journalism specifically focusing on the travel publications Travel Africa, Getaway and Africa Geographic. The principal focus for many postcolonial theorists is the (mis)representation of “less-developed”, “third-world” countries, often focusing on literature in the creation and maintenance of structures of discursive oppression. I have used the work of postcolonial theorists Said (1978), Spurr (1993) and Pratt (1992) to form the theoretical foundation of my analytical framework. A discourse analysis of the magazines for the years 2006 and 2007 reveal Africa to be a discursively constructed cultural package. Touristic understandings of what constitutes ‘real’ African experiences are underpinned and portrayed through eloquent and articulate descriptions or imagery which interpellates the prospective Western traveler. To borrow Spurr’s (1992) terminology Africa is portrayed as ‘absence’ metaphorically or through the rhetorical strategy of negation in an attempt to create a void which can only be filled through intervention by ‘the civilized’. However, in addition to this, the magazines offer active systematic proposals to foster change and appeal to audiences to trans-code representations, a notion that postcolonial theorist Elfriede Fürsich (2002) has discussed in studies focusing on television travel journalism. I am arguing that in some instances the travel journalists in these magazines challenge conventional, traditional journalistic practices in order to create more balanced representations of the African continent. It is these forms of writing that can harness social change and represent African people, places and politics in alternative depictions. These strategies may include various narrative or linguistic techniques such as an altering of the conventional, commercial travel discourse, or an increased and liberated feedback loop between the publication and its readers.
Indigenous aesthetics and narratives in the works of Black South African artists in local art museums.
(2009) Winters, Yvonne Elizabeth.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.
This dissertation is an amalgam of reformulated essays on artists who had connections with 20-21st century KwaZulu-Natal: They appeared in exhibition catalogues that accompanied the exhibitions; The Azaria Mbatha Retrospective, 1998, The Trevor Makhoba Memorial, 2005 and Cyprian Mpho Shilakoe Revisited, 2006. Chapter 1, the introduction; outlines the chapters, gives the theoretical and broader theoretical framework, history of the region and art therein, literature survey and methodology. Central to the theoretical framework is an attempt to meld the original essays into a coherent whole; by expanding the interpretation of indigenous cultural world-view to include the concept of orality versus literate cultures. Even in the transformation to literacy with westernization and Christianity the African oral mind-set is still operative; thus for instance the early Zulu writers like R.R.R. Dhlomo rendered the Zulu kings‘ oral praise-poems into written form and these became set-works for Zulu schools up until the 1994 new dispensation. Also dealt with are related issues of what therefore constitutes 'Africanness‘ and debates whether it is but the invention of the west in need of the 'Other‘ (something arguably pertinent to the art-collector‘s reasons for collecting), or if there is that own to the African style, like the oral style, which can be termed a 'legitimate Africanness‘ if one will. Further, how this style then exhibits itself in the visual arts as a 'preferred form‘ in terms of medium, colour, patterning and favored technique which best conspire to express these qualities. Chapter 2 (essay 1) and chapter 3 (essay 2), carry forward the assumptions made in the introduction. In modern times the oral genre has developed into an exciting style; namely the development of urban, often migrant musical forms, like isicathimiya, that challenge politics, social-wrongs, racism and taboos. It is argued that an artist like Trevor Makhoba can be considered a social commentator and 'master of the oral genre‘ in that he rendered this style into visual form. Certain of Makhoba‘s works depicting white females and black males are analyzed in this light and it is suggested that the oral genre also draws upon both stereotypical and universal archetypal imagery. Chapter 3 (essay 2) considers Azaria Mbatha‘s use of the older oral story-telling mode, rendered in linocut medium as an echo of earlier indigenous wooden 'pokerwork‘ panels, to transmit a political message in line with concepts of African Christianity, itself a syncretism of the Christian message with African world-view. This allegory was needed in a time where the Nationalist Government would have made open insurrection impossible. Chapter 4 (essay 3) concerns ex-Rorke‘s Drift art-student Cyprian Shilakoe. I analyze his aquatints in the light of his own Sotho cultural ideas on contagion and the ancestors for deeper meaning. The fact of culture change is accepted and mention is made of the artist‘s friend and fellow student, Dan Rakgoathe‘s melding of western esoteric mysticism, like Rosicrucianism, into African thinking and how far this impacted on the more traditional Shilakoe‘s works. The essays are followed by Chapter 5, the conclusion, which serves to come to some resolution. This is then followed by the bibliography.
Navigating the topographical drawing : the South African journal of J.S. Dobie.
(1997) Bredin, Scott.; King, Terence Howard.; Heath, Bronwen Jinny.
This dissertation aims to explore aspects of topographical drawing in nineteenth century Natal. It has as its centrepiece the drawings of John Dobie (1819-1903). It is argued that topographical drawing is enmeshed in the landscape and its attendant cultural discourse. On this basis an analogy is drawn between topographical drawing and navigation.
Marietjie van der Merwe : ceramics 1960-1988.
(2007) Du Plessis, Lara.; Calder, Ian Meredith Shepstone.
This dissertation will contextualize and analyse selected works of the South African ceramist Marietjie van der Merwe (bl935 dl992; known professionally as Marietjie, aka Mariki, Marikie) between 1960-1988. The text consists of three chapters. The first chapter will outline the life of Marietjie van der Merwe, discuss her political and religious affiliations and ends with a chronological outline of her ceramics. This introductory chapter will help the reader to gain an insight into her character and personality which influenced the work she produced. The second chapter comprises two main sections. The first deals with the ceramists who influenced Marietjie's work. In her early art training years Laura Andreson, her teacher, played a key role in inspiring and influencing Marietjie's work. The Natzlers influenced Marietjie indirectly through Laura Andreson who in turn had been taught by them. Rudolf Staffel manipulated aspects in porcelain inspired Marietjie's later works of the 1980s. The second half of this chapter deals with the influence that Marietjie had on institutions and her students. The works of Katherine Glenday, a student and later colleague, are discussed and comparisons made. Marietjie van der Merwe's contributed significantly to the modernist foundations of South African studio ceramics, was mentor and studio advisor to the ceramists of Rorke's Drift Art and Craft Centre and was a lecturer at the former Department of Fine Art and History of Art, University of Natal. Links with Nordic countries and Malin Lundbohm (now Sellmann) are drawn. Throughout this chapter the artist's work is compared and discussed with that of Marietjie's. This dissertation concludes with a documentary study of six selected pieces. Original photographs facilitate visually what is been discussed in the text. These samples are found in Iziko South African National Gallery, Tatham Art Gallery and from the private collection of Lara Du Plessis.
Deciphering aspects of Azaria Mbatha's worldview located in specific religious themes and images employed in his work.
(2007) Jansen, Leigh.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.
Azaria Mbatha's (1941 - ) work incorporates the many and various influences he has experienced throughout his life. Writers have tended towards essentialist readings of his work emphasizing proselytizing, resistance or traditional Zulu aspects of his work discretely. This is not sufficient to gain an accurate representation of his work which exhibits a spontaneous response to Biblical narratives as he critically appropriates and modifies texts at will. He utilizes narrative to express and explore his own circumstances creating works which are able, in turn, to express the plight of anyone who identifies with his experiences. His work functions both autobiographically and didactically and aspires to be applicable and encouraging to both the individual and the general public, regardless of one's culture of origin. This dissertation aims to present a holistic reading of Mbatha's oeuvre taking into account, amongst others, his Lutheran kholwa upbringing, the situation in South Africa (especially in the years under Apartheid), his familial ties to the Zionist church, his training at the Evangelical Lutheran Church Art and Craft Centre and in Sweden, his foundation within traditional Zulu cosmology, the influence of members of the Lutheran Theological College on his theological views, his position as an artist of the diaspora as a result of his self imposed exile in Sweden and his own interpretation of the Bible, influenced most profoundly by his father. Such a reading of his work is necessary to decipher aspects of Mbatha's idiosyncratic approach to the various influences he applied to his work in order to outline his personal worldview. His work encompasses many themes, of which three are covered here. Firstly, his depictions of scenes from the book of Revelation are examined, as are his various portrayals of the figure of Jesus Christ. Finally, his images of reconciliation in its various forms are considered. Interpretations of these works are informed by a consideration of the various influences already mentioned combined with a visual analysis of each work. It is hoped that this dissertation will aid in understanding the idiosyncrasies and complexities present in Mbatha's work and thus aid in preventing further essentialist readings of comparable artists. For the purposes of this study I have limited my interpretations to his linocuts only.
Questioning heritage : colonial ideologies in contemporary museum practice.
(2008) Draper, Jessica Lindiwe.; Nyoni, Vulindlela Philani Elliot.
The research problem to be explored in this study is to what extent colonial ideologies continue to influence museum society and contemporary museum practices. The museological display of non-Western, and specifically African material cultures will be investigated. This study will enter into a dialogue with the construction of the ‘Other’, both in a colonial context and within museological paradigms. The evolutionary nature of culture and heritage will be emphasized, with particular prominence given to the dangers of exhibiting cultures as static and objectified. The Exhibitions Congo. The Colonial Era (Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren) and Zulu heritage: the history and culture of the Zulu people (Msunduzi Museum, Pietermaritzburg) are used as case studies, as both displays raise questions of appropriation and the display of ‘Other’. These exhibitions are analysed and then contextualized within existing museological research. Current debates located in post-colonial discourse, notably those of Edward Said, are discussed in relation to the display of African material culture. In discussing museum exhibitions and readership, the writings of Hooper-Greenhill and Kaplan are considered. An understanding of heritage is generated in relation to the theories of Lowenthal. The paper concludes that by combining a ‘contrapuntal’ (Said) view of the histories surrounding an artefact, with the acknowledgment of the viewer’s lived experience in accordance with Reader-Response criticism, one would create a basis from which the viewer could begin to question and engage with cultural representations of the ‘Other’.
Postcolonial feminisms speaking through an 'accented' cinema : the construction of Indian women in the films of Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta.
(2004) Moodley, Subeshini.; Loots, Lliane Jennifer.
This thesis proposes that the merging of the theories of ‘accented’ cinema and postcolonial feminisms allows for the establishment of a theoretical framework for the analysis of (what will be argued for) an emerging postcolonial feminist film practice. In An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking (2001), Hamid Naficy argues that even though the experiences of diaspora and exile differ from one person to the next, films produced by diasporic filmmakers exhibit similarities at various levels. These similarities, he says, arise as a result of a tension between a very distinct connection to the native country and the need to conform to the host society in which these filmmakers now live. Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta are women filmmakers of the Indian diaspora whose films depict Indian women – in comparison with their popular cinematic construction - in unconventional and controversial ways. These characters, at some crucial point in the films, transgress their oppressive nationalist representation through the reclaiming of their bodies and sexual identities. This similarity of construction in Nair and Mehta’s female protagonists, as a result, facilitates a filtering of postcolonial feminisms throughout the narrative of their films. Even though the postcolonial feminist writings of Chandra Talpade Mohanty (1991, 1994, 1997) and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (1990, 1994, 1996, 1999) do not relate directly to the study of film or cinematic practices, their works, specifically those regarding the construction, maintenance and perpetuation of nation and nationalism in postcolonial narratives, serve as a specifically gender-focused appropriation of Naficy’s theories. Mohanty and Spivak’s arguments surrounding the use of text and, particularly, narrative as tools for the representation and empowerment of Third world women, women of colour and subaltern women, work toward illustrating how postcolonial feminisms articulate through a specific moment of ‘accented’ filmmaking: that of women filmmakers of the Indian diaspora.
Understanding whiteness in South Africa with specific reference to the art of Brett Murray.
(2009) Passmoor, Ross P.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.
The white male artist whose self-interrogation attaches to his whiteness, difference and former centrality, inevitably exposes himself to the critical scrutiny of current discourse on race and whiteness studies. In this dissertation I examine the concept and emergence of whiteness as a dominant construct in select socio-historical contexts, more particularly in the colonial sphere. While colonial whiteness has often failed to acknowledge or foreground the faceted nature of its composition, this became particularly marked in a South African context with polarisation in the political, cultural and linguistic spheres. However in encounters with the colonised, unifying pretensions of whiteness prevailed, reinforcing difference along racial lines. I examine the work of white South African male artist Brett Murray, in which the interrogation of whiteness and associated marginalization and invisibility is again foregrounded, but predominantly in a postcolonial context. As Murray cautiously navigates his satirical gaze at the culturally and conceptually flawed hybridity of South African (male) whiteness, he inadvertently exposes a nostalgic gaze at erstwhile racial centrality. I further consider whether as a postcolonial other Murray has in fact been able to transcend racially based self-interrogation by addressing more polemic issues associated with power, corruption and inhumanity that transcend race.
Personal history and collective memory : images of social and political history in the art of four South African women artists.
(2010) Kühl, Tania.; Calder, Ian Meredith Shepstone.
This study examines the means by which four South African woman artists, namely Penny Siopis, Jo Ractliffe, Lien Botha and Tania Kühl use memory and history as themes to represent social and political events in South Africa. The foundation of this investigation is a critical study of the meaning of history and memory within the context of the candidate’s contemporary social and political milieu. This investigation is facilitated by a number of published and unpublished works by various authors relating to the issues in visual arts; particularly social and political history as applied to personal memory and history. Chapter one explores these terms particularly in relation to the visual arts. Chapter one identifies terms that are vital to the dissertation and some of the literature and methodologies used in the research. These are divided into the subheadings of: terms; women, politics and art; art and documentary photography; literature review; methodology and conclusion.. Examples of each artist’s work are selected for a comprehensive analysis in chapter two. These examples are methodically studied by media and techniques used to produce the artworks and include a critical analysis of the subject matter of the artwork. The examples were selected primarily for their content in connection with the candidate’s own productions of practical work towards the MAFA degree. Chapter two is divided into four main sections, one dedicated to each artist: Penny Siopis, Jo Ractliffe, Lien Botha and Tania Kühl. These four sections are divided into three subsections: medium and techniques; subject matter and conclusion. Chapter three points out similarities and differences in the work of the four selected artists in order to conclude the candidate’s findings during the dissertation.
A documentary film on the Magwaza potters' production of Zulu beer ceramics.
(2006) Todd, Jane.; Armstrong, Juliet Yvonne.
This dissertation consists of two components. Firstly, a documentation of the production of Zulu beer ceramics by the Magwaza potters of Mpabelane, using the medium of documentary film; secondly, a written consideration of issues of representation, in relation to the documentary film, regarding the ceramists and the ceramics. In October 1994 I stayed with the Magwaza family for 5 days. During this time 12 of the Magwaza women produced vessels. They were Khulumeleni Magwaza, Shongaziphi Magwaza, Thandiwe Magwaza, Bonisiwe Magwaza, Esther (also called Buyaphi) Magwaza, Sholoni Magwaza, Buzephi Magwaza, Sindisiwe Magwaza, Mkoso Magwaza, Thuleleni Magwaza, Konzeni Magwaza, Qikiza Magwaza and Mancani Magwaza. The vessels were produced over four days. The potters each individually produced a vessel using the coiling method. On the first day the vessels were formed using the coiling method. Decoration was done on the second day. The vessels were decorated with either scraffito or applied amasumpa (little nodes or warts), or a combination of both methods. On the third day fat (vegetable oil or soap) was applied to the vessels and they were burnished with river stones. At sunrise of the forth day the vessels were fired. Dried aloe was packed below and around the vessels. A small pile of dried grass was packed on top of the aloe kiln. This was lit and the flames spread from the top down, burning for 25 minutes. After this the pots were blackened by various means. This process was filmed and edited. A year after the filming an interview was conducted with Khulumeleni, Shongaziphi and Thandiwe Magwaza to clarify some of the production methods that they used. The paper considers issues of representation prior to filming and editing the documentary, as well as post-production considerations of these same issues. The pre-production consideration section is based on various extracts from texts on representation, particularly of a cultural other. The postproduction analysis reconsiders these notions of representation in the light of what occurred during filming and editing.
A study of the Eritrean art and material culture in the collections of the National Museum of Eritrea.
(2006) Ghebrehiwot, Petros Kahsai.; Calder, Ian Meredith Shepstone.
Eritrean art and material culture has not been accorded its rightful pace, neither has it been sufficiently isolated from its Ethiopian counterparts. Like the other reconstruction challenges facing Eritrea, following the 30 years' war for independence, the field of art and culture is in need of reconstruction. This study aimed to contextualize selected Eritrean material culture in terms of social, cultural, historical, art-historical and iconographic values. The selected artefacts have been studied in terms of construction, tactility of materials, iconography and functionality of the objects' form and surface. This dissertation provides a photographic documentation of the study samples. Results of this study indicate that makers of Eritrean material culture primarily aimed at the functional values of most of the objects instead of the aesthetic values. This is clearly shown on the form of the objects which describe the function. The makers produced the material culture to their own taste, reflecting the culture or religion they represent. The study samples are taken from the Ethnographic Section of the National Museum of Eritrea (NME). This study investigated museum practices, including challenges and limitations, as well as future plans of the NME. Information was elicited from knowledgeable individuals, fieldwork data collection, secondary sources and visual analysis of the study sample. The study recommended that this young institution (NME) needs to be empowered by the Government and solve its problems, so as to play a major role in reconstructing Eritrean cultural identity and preserving cultural heritage. In addition, research centres should be established to work on the process of the documentation and construction of Eritrean art history. Besides training individuals, the research centre should organize national and international conferences, conduct workshops and organize, recognize and encourage artists.
Representations of the "other" in selected artworks : re-membering the black male body.
(2006) Nyoni, Vulindlela Philani Elliot.; Lambert, Michael.
The depiction of blackness in the visual arts is located in the complex discourse of representation. Blackness within western visual art has been, and continues to be viewed as oppositional to representations of whiteness, and is constantly perceived as other. This dissertation analyses the process of othering and the impact of such a process on the production of artwork in southern Africa, where the representation of the black male, in particular has been subjected to racist ideology, supported by its props, stereotype, generalization and the homogenization of black experience. Using poststructuralist theories of identity construction and power, I analyse stereotype, racism and masculinity in the colonial and postcolonial periods, focussing especially on the internalization of white constructions of blackness within black visual culture. I discuss the work of Baines as representative of colonial constructions of black masculinity, the work of Bhengu, Mapplethorpe and Makhoba as illustrative of the internalization of stereotypic identities, and the work of Voyiya, Harris and Nyoni as representative of resistant discourses of representation of the black male body. I situate the latter within the contemporary debate on questions of subjectivity and agency within the Foucauldian concept of power. I have deliberately chosen works by two American artists (Mapplethorpe and Harris) in order to situate discourses of blackness within a wider context.
The Didima Rock Art Centre : a critical evaluation of the intersections of tourism, heritage conservation, and visual communication.
(2006) Storey, Amanda Eileen Maria.; Calder, Ian Meredith Shepstone.
This dissertation critically evaluates the intersections of tourism, heritage conservation, and visual communication by exploring the display materials and Museology within the Didima Rock Art Centre, at Cathedral Peak, southern Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal. The text consists of three chapters. The first chapter introduces rock art and current research and conservation concerns in relation to heritage and rock art. The second chapter serves as an introduction to the Didima Rock Art Centre. A discussion raises important issues about visual communication in regard to the representation of the Southern San and rock art as material culture both in this museum context. Chapter three investigates and analyses the museum practices that have been used as a visual communication within the Centre by discussing methods that have been used in the museum and its auditorium. A conclusion follows that summarizes the candidate's findings regarding museum display within the Centre, and its impact on tourism and heritage conservation in relation to the Southern San and rock art.
Michael Zondi : South African sculptor.
(2004) Nieser, Kirsten.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.
The art historical foregrounding of pioneer and contemporary art of black South Africans during the last two decades of the 20th century has emphasised two-dimensional media. Given the dearth of biographies on black artists in general, it is the purpose of this dissertation to reposition the three-dimensional oeuvre of a pioneer sculptor in the context of the artistic creativity occurring within the educational and economic constraints of a segregated South Africa. While Michael Zondi's school education and vocational training was forged predominantly within a western mission context, the emergence of his talent remained largely independent of any art training initiatives or art-making institutions. This research study places a strong emphasis on Zondi's interface with a white elitist patronage base. As a member of an educated kholwa elite, Zondi's acculturation and intellectual exchange with his patrons regarding mores, belief systems and world views, centred on reciprocity, as the artist sought to redefine himself in terms of western paradigms initially imposed by colonialism. The exchange found consistent expression in Zondi's stance of reconciliation, which reflected the cross-cultural friendships under the aegis of a shared Christianity which the artist forged into a syncretism with his own received belief systems. Zondi's espousal of western cultural paradigms which facilitated the interface resulted in the public foregrounding of the work of this black artist, at a time in South African history when this was exceptional. From the 1960s the Lutheran mission enterprise in Natal provided a platform for liberation theology, challenging the suppression of indigenous belief systems as well as state autocracy and the reality of a segregated society. Given Zondi's acute political awareness, he was prompted to take up that challenge, albeit covertly, with visual texts addressing moral issues and voicing humanitarian concerns. With figurative genre sculptures frequently alluding to the artist's rootedness in his received Zulu traditions, the thematic content of some of Zondi's work shows an indigenisation of the Christian gospel as he drew on Biblically inspired imagery, making his art function as a vehicle for the articulation of his dissent. This study traces Zondi's stylistic development from representational naturalism of his early work to an espousal of a modernist visual language embracing some experimentation with his preferred medium, South African hardwoods. Within his essentially figurative representational style, and in part as a result of the intervention of his supporters, Zondi made use of expressive surface textures and distortion. His pronounced use of faceting in the later 1960s was consolidated after a short sojourn in Paris in the mid-1970s, when, for a short time, he created more conceptual human forms in a cubist manner. This represented his most marked departure from his recognizable figurative style of representational carving. While some of Zondi's pieces in private and public collections were included in group exhibitions during the 1980s and 1990s (1), research has not yet revealed pieces postdating 1987. It is probable that ill-health forced Zondi to consider his retirement from sculpting by the early 1990s. (1) "The Neglected Tradition", 1988; "Images of Wood", 1989; "Land and Lives", 1997.
The inception of cross-cultural dimensions in the ceramics of the late 1970s onwards, as reflected in the work of Maggie Mikula and her adherents.
(2004) Bauer, Vanessa M.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.
In this dissertation the incorporation of cross-cultural imagery and its assimilation is focused on the work of Maggie Mikula, a ceramist from KwaZulu-Natal. Producing within the 1970's and 1980's. her work is investigated within the historical context of the socio-political background of South Africa. Syncretism in the visual arts reflects problems associated with identity and authenticity and this dissertation analyses these issues. A reference is made to select artists and ceramists in South Africa who approach their work in this manner, in particular with reference to the influence that Maggie Mikula has had in their work. Chapter One discusses the history of borrowing in South Africa citing examples of work by artists including amongst others Walter Battiss, Alexis Preller and Cecil Skotnes. This is based around the broad political and ideological relationships in the country that framed local art making. The assimilation and the breakdown of barriers in African/western art in a South African context is argued through a post-colonial reading. The chapter deals with the problems of borrowing related to appropriation and stereotyping from a postmodernist perspective. Chapter Two introduces the history of South African ceramics examining its development and styles, focussing on changing premises within the medium. The second part of the chapter positions Mikula's work, interests, personal history and ideals. Chapter Three deals with the development of Mikula's ceramic work, referring to her technology, processes and sourcing. The reception of Mikula's work and the attitudes to cross-cultural assimilation in the 1980's, as well as current perceptions are addressed in Chapter Four. Her influence on this creative medium is shown with specific examples. Personal interviews attempt to contextualise her position and situate her within the ceramic world. Acknowledging that there is a wealth of collections through out South Africa, the ceramic work predominately researched for this paper is from KwaZulu-Natal. It has been sourced both from the immediate family, and from individual collectors, as this was the site of her production. Other collections have been accessed from around South Africa including the Corobrik collection in Pretoria (of which there are two pieces - one which is broken), the large piece is documented photographically (see Fig.22) and referred to on Page 66. The Nelson Mandela Museum, Port Elizabeth, (accessed on-line and via photographs from the artist's records) has a notable collection, but given the nature of this research, these pieces do not demonstrate any significant features over and above those that were already sourced. This paper is not intended as a catalogue, but is meant to show a variety of Mikula's work to demonstrate her influence and style. Each piece is chosen for its specific aspects and unique features that would support this research. Given the nature of this investigation, the author has been obliged to read widely, including writers such as Berman, Sacks, Cruise and the complete edition of APSA newsletters and magazines to give a comprehensive over view of the changes in style and influence within South African art and specifically, ceramics.
The nineteenth-century French landscape painting collection in the Tatham Art Gallery.
(2004) Yang, Hua.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.
This dissertation initially attempts a brief history of the landscape tradition in the West with the emphasis on developments in nineteenth-century French landscape painting. A collection of these paintings in the Tatham Art Gallery is then closely examined in the light of the socio-political circumstances that influenced their origins and acquisition. Finally a full catalogue of the paintings is presented with digital images and documentation.
The transformative potential of visual language with special reference to DWEBA's use of drawing as a participatory training methodology in the development facilitation context in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2006) Hall, Louise Gillian.; Leeb-du Toit, Juliette Cecile.; Rule, Peter Neville.
No abstract available.
The art of dying : depictions of death in the work of Andres Serrano, Joel-Peter Witkin and David Buchler.
(2010) Buchler, David.; Calder, Ian Meredith Shepstone.
This dissertation explored visual representations of death in the photographic work of Andres Serrano and Joel-Peter Witkin, as well as the MAFA candidate's (David Buchler) own art practice. It looked at historical overviews of representations of death from the Middle Ages to present, as a means of contextualising and locating the reasons as to how images came to be the way they are in the present. Selected artworks were examined with particular theoretical reference to Phillipe Ariès' investigation into the changing attitudes towards death in Western society and Julia Kristeva's abjection theory. This dissertation focuses on the abjection of death and more specifically the corpse and the treatment of it in the work of Serrano and Witkin. This project explored some of the reasons why the images in this dissertation may be seen as disturbing and confrontational.
Drama, spirituality and healing : towards a contextual exploration of dramatic methodologies for healing black gay men in the greater Pietermaritzburg area.
(2000) Kisten, Kesavan.; Barnes, Hazel Susan.
This study explores the interconnectedness of drama, spirituality and healing among an established group of black gay males in the Pietermaritzburg area who agreed to work with me towards self-empowerment through drama. It examines, through a synthesis of educational drama methodology, community theatre methodology and drama therapy methodology, an appropriate and contextual way to use drama as a means of educating (educational drama methodology), conscientising (community theatre methodology) and therapy (drama therapy methodology) to some of the dis-ease reported by members of this group. Drama and therapy are closely interwoven (Moreno, 1970) and it is possible to create a dramatic context within which both individual and community development can be enhanced. Boal (1995) observes that our personal and corporate identities are ordered by a variety of oppressive social systems. Similarly, Graham (1992) argues that these social systems organise our psyches and our behaviours into patterns of domination and subordination. There are many theorists and practitioners in the field of drama (educational drama, community theatre and drama therapy) who have researched, implemented and published dramatic techniques and methodologies, some of which are taught at various institutions and implemented with various groups of people. However, according to my knowledge, there are no drama practitioners who have focussed on using the medium of drama to bring about social change in the lives of black gay males in the Pietermaritzburg area. It is against this background that I undertook this experiential study which is primarily aimed at assisting black gay males to move away from personal and social alienation towards individual and communal integration. This study is structured into two parts. Part I develops a theoretical overview of sexuality, spirituality and drama. It argues, in Chapter One that the Church has had a history of intolerance and judgement towards gays and continues to repress them from a traditional, negative stance on homosexuality. In Chapter Two, the issue of femininity and masculinity is examined, arguing that traditional patriarchal, and heterosexual masculinity [and femininity] is a socially constructed behaviour which is similar to the way in which gay masculinity [and femininity] is constructed. Chapter Three investigates the educational, conscientising and therapeutic origins of drama, with an aim of implementing some of these dramatic methodologies with the drama group. Part II concentrates on the application of the theory discussed in Part I to the practice of drama as an educational, conscientising and therapeutic means with a black gay drama group. It provides an analysis of the exercises and improvisations in practice; observations, evaluations and conclusions based on the drama practise with this particular group. Chapter Four provides a detailed summary of thirty black gay male's profiles in the Pietermaritzburg area. This portrait of black gay males provides one with a clearer contextual understanding of these gays, especially in the areas of culture, spirituality, identity and sexuality. Chapter Five provides a detailed outline of a sequence of exercises and improvisations for each of the nine sessions, which were tailored to engage the drama group in productive educational, conscientising and therapeutic activities. These activities may also have applicability to other groups of gays (i.e. Indians, Coloureds, Whites and multi-racial / multi-cultural groups), and/or black, and/or male persons in other localities. Chapters Five, Six and Seven, focus respectively on my experiences of planning, implementing and evaluating the drama workshops and the various drama methodologies that were introduced in Chapter Three and employed by the participants. These chapters, especially Chapter 6, focus specifically on the participants' evaluation of the actual workshops. In conclusion, this study argues that drama, if contextrialised, can offer a unique educational, conscientising and therapeutic potential among black gay males that I worked with in the Pietermaritzburg area.

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