dESIGN12+ #9: Dr. Avi Sooful (University of Pretoria, South Africa)

(Note: This guest lecture is held in English.)

Dr. Avi Sooful (Senior Lecturer: Fine Art Studies) will give a presentation on the Fine Arts program at the UP-University of Pretoria (South Africa) and the work that students are busy with. She will also speak about her practice as an artist: "I began my academic career in KwaZulu Natal, as an educator before relocating to Gauteng. My area of interest remains a feminist position within the visual arts. As a practicing artist, I have participated in numerous exhibitions both nationally and internationally, and the notion of landscape has occupied my work as both socio-political and feminist images. My academic career spans more than twenty-five years, and my interest is the documenting of art history embedded in apartheid experiences. I currently hold the position of senior lecturer, in Fine Art at the University of Pretoria. My practice as an artist reflects on feminist issues relating to black women, and the current focus is on abuse and violence. My published research is separated into art education and object biographies. The latter deals with a search for South Africa's history during apartheid, and I look at anti-apartheid t-shirts specifically worn during the 1980s."

Dr. Avi Sooful (Senior Lecturer: Fine Art Studies) will give a lecture on the Fine Art study program at the UP University of Pretoria (South Africa) and the work of her students. She will also talk about her practice as an artist: "I started my academic career in KwaZulu Natal as an educator before moving to Gauteng. My area of interest remains a feminist position within the visual arts. As a practicing artist, I have participated in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally, and the notion of landscape has engaged me in my work as both a socio-political and feminist image. My academic career spans over twenty-five years and my interest is in documenting the history of art embedded in the apartheid experience. I am currently a lecturer in Fine Arts at the University of Pretoria. In my art practice, I explore feminist issues in relation to black women, with a current focus on abuse and violence. My published research is divided into art education and object biographies. The latter is concerned with tracing the history of South Africa during apartheid, and I am researching anti-apartheid T-shirts worn specifically in the 1980s."