Published December 14, 2022
By, Lekgetho Makola, Chief Executive Officer
At the beginning of 2022, we opened our doors and hearts with enthusiasm and optimism embodied within the founding energies of this unique transdisciplinary art platform. We celebrated our third anniversary of growth led by a dedicated team of staff, supported by our immediate colleagues at the University of Pretoria inspired by our Vice-Chancellor Professor Tawana Kupe.
Together with our myriad communities of practice and contact zones in Tshwane and the rest of the Gauteng Province, the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria emerged from the heavy impact of Covid 19 cloud with resilience, and is more inspired and committed to contributing to the growth of the creative sector in our region.
Most humbling moments include welcoming over 10 000 young learners into our art centre, with the majority entering an art gallery for the first time in their young lives. This is a life-shifting experience for many of them. We also welcomed busloads of students from the Gauteng Province and beyond, joining us for artistic education lessons in our galleries which we regard as living classrooms. Our team visited over 55 schools within Gauteng to engage in art curriculum support programmes. Our general visitor numbers reached the highest ever at over 33 000 to interact with our exciting groundbreaking exhibitions and public engagement programmes. We were a hosting space for major national and international gatherings such as the NIHSS Awards, Africa Evidence Network Conference, and many other Embassies events and book launches.
Our 2023 programme invests emphasis on pan-African artistic education in partnership with both local and continental platforms and forums, bridging the knowledge divide through hybrid channels. We will mediate science and art disciplines to cultivate innovative ways of responding and contributing to our sustainable development goals & agendas, we will think and do a conversation about cultural heritage in new ways by bridging indigenous knowledge with academic research knowledge, we will advocate art as a source for healing that our society is in dire need of and we will create a marketplace for the commercial value of the artistic experience and creative products.
Michael Javett, who passed on in November of this year, has made his own contribution to ensuring access to art and artistic education for the youth. This will be acknowledged as this Art Centre evolves many folds, impacting many lives of young South Africans in dynamic ways while contributing to the betterment of our communities.
Together with our founders, the Javett Foundation, and the University of Pretoria, we are now extending an invitation to you to join our partnership. A partnership that validates the significant role of the arts in our lives. Art inspires who we continue to re-imagine ourselves to become. It enhances our abilities to think, read and engage our surroundings most critically. You are welcomed to the heart of art in Tshwane.