These images document the activities across both the locations and events (ArtSearch (Wits), March 2017 and Third Space Symposium (UCT), August 2017) from which the contributions in the issue are drawn. The symposia, performances and the attendant exhibitions as multimodal and poly-vocal introspections and reflections, deliberation and conversations took place at an exceptionally volatile moment in South African higher education markedly 2015-2017.
Artsearch Symposium at the University of the Witwatersrand
in March 2017
Using artistic research as way to address decolonising practices, this three-day symposium brought together international scholars and practitioners from various disciplines. The presentations offered creative strategies to transform art institutions and recognise previously unacknowledged artistic practices and forms.
3rd Space Symposium at Cape Town University’s Institute of Creative Arts in August 2017
Centred on creative practices including performance, dance, theatre, film and visual arts, the second iteration of the 3rd Space Symposium focused less on institutional transformation and more on multiple aesthetic practices and strategies that challenged canonised Western and European art modes. It drew from unresolved histories and experiences that had been rendered invisible under colonialism and apartheid, and through race and class privileges.