by Gerrit Bester
The Faculty of Arts and Design is renowned for its originality, and its thought-provoking Women's Day event, A Seat at the Table: Inclusivity in the Arts, once again showcased this distinctive quality.
Prof Anne Mastamet-Mason (Department of Design Studies: Fashion Design).
Inspired by Lois Weaver's The Long Table, staff and students from all walks of life gathered in the Rostrum Theatre on 7 August for a public and highly participatory forum that combined elements of performance, installation and discussion to encourage a free flow of ideas and dialogue.
This informal dialogue was stimulated by staff members Prof Anne Mastamet-Mason (Department of Design Studies: Fashion Design) and Anré Fourie (Department of Performing Arts: Theatre Arts and Design – Tech), who shared courageous and deeply personal accounts of the defining moments that have shaped their lives.
Among others, Prof Mastamet-Mason shared how her grandmother taught her patchwork skills, which she used to create quilts during her impoverished upbringing. At the time, she didn't realize this was her entry into the world of fashion design. This experience instilled in her a profound understanding of the healing power of art.
She reminisced about watching planes fly over her home village in Kenya and telling her friends that one day she too would fly...
Anré recounted her experience growing up in a middle-class family, where her parents instilled a strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit in her and her brother from an early age. They made significant sacrifices to ensure she received a quality education, even going so far as for her father to sell his car and take the bus instead. This foundation enabled her to pay it forward later in life.
Her career began as a student when she launched a successful printing business. Her entry into higher education was sparked by a character she designed for the Department of Education to address violence against children. The University took notice of her work and offered her a position twenty years ago.
These two heartfelt narratives provided them with a seat at the table, so to speak, and encouraged other audience members, as guest performers, to reflect on and share their own journeys, whether verbally or in writing.
They expressed their takeaways from the event as follows: "It triggered in me the things that brought me here;" "Empathy makes us relate to each other;" "Embrace your uniqueness. Although we all have different journeys, we are all here now;" "Be kind to yourself;" and "Our collective stories make us stronger."
Facilitated by Dr Refiloe Lepere and Galeboe Moabi (both from the Department of Performing Arts: Theatre Arts and Design – Performer), the golden thread throughout the event was how you realise your real and metaphorical seat at the table, who created that seat for you, who you create a seat for, or if you are stuck in a seat.
The event was part of the Women in Arts Collective, a programme housed in the Artivism as a Tool to Combat Gender-Based Violence Niche Area led by Prof Nalini Moodley, Executive Dean: Faculty of Arts and Design.
Prof Nalini Moodley, Executive Dean: Faculty of Arts and Design.
Anré Fourie (Department of Performing Arts: Theatre Arts
and Design – Tech).
Inspired by Lois Weaver's The Long Table, staff and students from all walks of life gathered in the Rostrum Theatre on 7 August for a public and highly participatory forum that combined elements of performance, installation and discussion to encourage a free flow of ideas and dialogue.
PHOTOS: Siphamandla Dlamini & Shaun Makwela