 |
| Wanda Verster |
Today I
attended a seminar at the Department of Art History, Uppsala University. This
is definitely not my field. The reason for my participation was an e-mail from
one of the faculty members, Associate Professor Eva Sandgren. She invited me,
because the department had a visiting scholar from the University of the Free State (UFS). Her name is Wanda Verster. I had never met her before, but since UFS is
the University where I earned my PhD, I very much wanted to attend this
seminar. The theme was:
Institutional Thresholds as Design Engagement.
University Campus as Catalyst for Transformative Design
I really
enjoyed listening to Wanda Verster. I have been a student at the Campus she spoke about. I know the dynamics and even the physical spaces she was referring
to.
 |
| Not so welcoming, after all. |
It was
interesting to learn how the students had worked with a project around
thresholds and boundaries. Wanda explained how the campus has become more and
more closed over the years. Today one can access the campus through four main
access points. If I understood it correctly that means if you come by car.
There are also a number of smaller gates, where pedestrians can enter. You need
a card to be able to enter and all gates are guarded by security personnel. The
task of the students was to work with architectural ways of breaching the boundaries
or making use of the edges in order to open up for communication between the
university and its context. But also installations around other different phenomena
such as the old statue in from of the Main Building. It is a statue of one of
the founders of the University, President Martinus Theunis Steyn, who was the
president of the Orange Free State 1896-1902.
The whole
idea of statues I have written about before. That time it was about the Cecil
John Rhodes-statue in front of the Main Building of the University of Cape Town
(UCT) and the hashtag
#rhodesmustfall
After some
googling I also found #steynmustfall on the internet. Especially a youtube video
where a group called Boer Republic defend the specific statue.
Yes, there
is an ongoing conversation in South Africa with clear postcolonial aspects. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent. Wanda
also mentioned the 2016 #feesmustfall campaign. If I understood her correctly the protests at UFS were less violent than in other parts of the country. I have also blogged about this.
What I also find
interesting is the fact that the gates and the fences around campus serve a
mere symbolic purpose. I also remember this from the University of
KwaZulu-Natal. If I had forgotten my card I could ask somebody to let me in or
even talk with the security guards. They very seldom argued about that. So, at
a very high cost, the universities put fences around the campuses. What does this
do with a University when it comes to openness and creativity?
I told a
colleague at Church of Sweden headquarters about the seminar and he directly
said that it is the same with our head office. Our motto is
Openness, presence and hope
But to
enter the office you need a card. Visitors need to wait in the reception to be
let in. Even in the School where I teach, no one can just enter. When we celebrate Eucharist every Monday and Wednesday the worship is in theory open to any visitor. But in practice only card holderscan get in.
It is enlightening to engage with another academic discipline. One can always learn something. About one's own context.
No comments:
Post a Comment