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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Master of Arts in Fine Arts Johnnesburg 1976 / Current art critical practice in South Africa has not been investigated previously. Statements have been made with regard to the low standards of art criticism in this country (see the introduction to this dissertation) However, such statements have not been motivated by an analysis is of examples of work contributed by South. This fact partly determined the decision to African art critics investigate current art critical practice in this country .

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of philosophy. March 2016. / The use of found objects is evident in a range of contemporary artmaking practices. The use of found objects can, however, no longer be understood as a rupture from tradition as they were in the early decades of the twentieth century when they were first used by Picasso and later by Duchamp, because found objects have become part of a longer genealogy in art making. A new approach is needed in order to understand the significance of the use of found objects in contemporary art. This study explores the significance of the use of found objects in selected contemporary South African artworks in order to move beyond an understanding of the use of found objects as the anti-art gestures like those of the historical and neo-avant-gardes. I propose that a shift in focus, from the idea of the found objects as anti-art, to an exploration of the changing ontological status of the found object as it moves through different social fields is one such new approach. Chapter one introduces the study, while chapter two outlines the research methods and theoretical frameworks used. Chapter three explores the meanings that objects accrue in everyday practices, while chapter four focussed on the difference between artworks and more quotidian objects. Pursuing the question of the manner in which the ontological status of the object shifts as it enters into and becomes part of the field of exhibition, chapter five considers the ways in which meanings are constructed for objects in the field of exhibition through the conventions of display. I explore the ways in which artists make use of or invert these conventions as a means of challenging the field of exhibition. Acknowledging that the objects are also active agents within this process, in chapter six I explore the manner in which the materiality of found objects contributes to the meaning of the artworks, and by extension, I consider what new possibilities of meaning a focus on the materiality yields. In the final chapter, I use the concept of the everyday to draw the themes that have emerged throughout this study together. I conclude by situating the contemporary South African art practices within the genealogy of the avant-garde.

A Research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the Degree Masters in History of Arts at the University of Witwatersrand, 2017 / This research report has followed three periods in the history of the political struggle for freedom in South Africa, from the height of the Anti-apartheid struggle in the 1980s to the present day by way of exploring three exhibitions of resistance posters as case studies. It is located in the realm of political and art history. Looking at the positioning of the resistance poster in South African art history, the intension is to highlight how these exhibitions have used display strategies to construct values reflected in the resistance poster. The three selected exhibitions are as follows: firstly, Thami Mnyele and Medu Art Ensemble Retrospective (2008), Second is the exhibition Images of Defiance: South African poster of the 1980’s (2004). And the third exhibition Interruptions: Posters from the Community Arts Project Archive (2014). / XL2018

In this thesis, I address ephemeras - namely temporary displays in the form of festivals and exhibitions belonging to the field of contemporary art. The most appropriate criterion with which to select and discuss the ephemera, i.e., the data in which I analyse in this thesis, is the notion of the 'event'. 'Event' is a philosophical concept, and therefore does not belong to artistic or aesthetic categories. However, two main characteristics are particularly relevant in considering it, and these are also pertinent to the field of art. Firstly, the tandem contingency and necessity. Secondly, the fact that no one can control the reach and impact of an event, which is also the case with an artwork and its interpretation. In this thesis, I am creating a confrontation between what is usually described as abstract thought (a work of philosophy for example) and the production of contemporary art, which is so often culturally and economically dependent on the art market and hegemonic power structures such as institutions, as well as the apparatus of historians and experts to evaluate and legitimise it. Furthermore, it is also necessary to state my understanding of art. This latter has strong propinquities with that defined by Kant when he coined the term 'fine art', namely a cultivated, context-aware and sensitive art, one's reflection on which provides pleasure exceeding the pure enjoyment or satisfaction produced by erudition or technical virtuosity. Secondly, the artistic manifestations that I discuss are always produced by a collective, group or organisation of which I am part. Consequently, what unfolds is an organisational discourse originating in my praxis of art. Finally, the very fact that I am a member of the group of people whose activities are discussed leads logically to autoethnography, a field of inquiry that I am also contributing to.

This thesis features the work of Carolyn Jeans Mills for a Masters of Fine Arts in Sculpture.

What would Australia be like if it had been recognised as terra alterius, ???land of another???, by the British, rather than claimed and treated as terra nullius, ???land of no-one???? This question was posed by the exhibition Terra Alterius: Land of Another, which comprised works by Gordon Bennett, Barbara Campbell-Allen, Julie Dowling, Shaun Gladwell + Michael Schiavello, Jonathan Jones, Joanne Searle, Esme Timbery, Freddie Timms, Lynette Wallworth, Guan Wei and Lena Yarinkura, created or nominated in response to the theme. This thesis describes the concept of terra alterius and the exhibition Terra Alterius: Land of Another. It considers the utility of the concept terra alterius, whether the exhibition achieved its ambition to explore the political and social terrain of a reconciled Australia, and, briefly, whether the concept of terra alterius might be useful to other ???terra nullius??? countries. It argues that the curatorial strategies ??? the ???What if???? re-imagination of Australia???s past, multiplicity of vision and active creation, grounding of the exhibition in affect (in response to Aboriginal painting), and working within Indigenous protocols ??? were effective, and that the exhibition was a useful means of exploring the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Comparisons with the exhibition Turn the Soil curated by Kevin Murray and the ???retrospective utopia??? W.H. Oliver argues has been created for New Zealand by the Waitangi Tribunal provide insight into the nature of the reconciled Australia presented in the exhibition and what might be achieved by a counterfactual exhibition. From these comparisons, it is argued, first, that the exhibition points to a disjuncture between Australia???s ongoing official, psychological and legal terra nullius and the approaches and relationships present in Australian society (characterised as a performance of Bloch???s utopian function); and secondly, that a counterfactual exhibition, because it is not bound to the factual, causal or narrative qualities traditionally attributed to history, is able to explore the future in a way that contains rather than denies the past. Although the concept of terra alterius is seen as having played a crucial role in the realisation of the exhibition, it is questioned whether the concept???s utility extends beyond Australia.

Internationally, museums have increasingly come under review since Bourdieu's (1969) research focused on art gallery visiting patterns and cultural codes. Museums exist within a post-modern milieu that demands a more democratic approach to defining their cultural and educational role within society. Over the last decade in particular, art museums, criticised for being elitist and insular within their communities, have been challenged to be more inclusive, accessible and relevant to their local communities.The literature suggests that a review of the core mission and the culture of museums is required to provide the catalyst for change. However, there is little evidence or few models offered as to how such re-visioning could be implemented. New Zealand art museums have been slow in responding to the issues, or to conducting research involving either their visitors or their communities. These emergent issues provided the context for this study, which is focused on the creation and reception of a community based exhibition within a contemporary regional art museum.This exhibition project brought together community participants and established artists, and the study evaluates the responses of the exhibition creators and the exhibition audience. In line with action research methodology, evaluation surveys and observational data were collected during the distinct phases of the project and resulted in a number of findings that have implications for regional art museums.The findings from this present study indicate that curators working alongside the community with an action research methodology, while developing exhibition projects, can produce positive outcomes for the participants, the audience and the museum. Creative partnerships can be established that enhance life-long-learning opportunities and contribute to the relevance of museums within their communities.The present study also proposes that museums re-vision their mission to become 'learning organisations' (Senge, 1994, 2000) and provides a model that could be appropriate for museums intent on enriching their organisational culture and enhancing their significance and profile within their community.

By critically analyzing trends in museum fashion exhibition practice over the past century, this thesis defines and describes the varied representations of historical fashion within museum exhibitions in Britain and North America. Evidence collected through archival research on past exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Bath Fashion Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the McCord Museum, and supplemented by media reports, academic reviews, as well as secondary theoretical literature, suggests that the discourses of historical fashion exhibitions have been heavily influenced by the anxieties and values placed upon fashion more generally. The discipline of fashion curation is deeply rooted in and dependent upon much earlier display practices in museums, galleries, and shops. The interplay between personal and world-historical narratives in exhibitions, the celebration of consumerism and corporate brand identity, as well as claims to aesthetic universality and quality, continued to surface across historical fashion exhibitions in all the institutions studied over the period 1913 to the present. Moreover, historical fashion, as it has been displayed in the case study institutions, also reflects the function of the museum institution itself, especially its visual marking of time and social contexts. This thesis contributes to a growing literature on the history of museums and on fashion curation and provides a historical framework for exhibitions of historical fashion to both disciplines. The worksheet generated during data-gathering provides an objective vocabulary for evaluating the physical and intellectual content of a historical fashion exhibition, and is a potentially useful tool for future researchers. Furthermore, as this dissertation investigates the role of display as a means of communication about material culture, it provides new and original insights into this important aspect of museum practice and therefore, also contributes to theoretical debates within the larger field of cultural heritage.

This thesis explores the relationship between existing museum exhibition development strategies and the potential practices which arise from the virtualisation of the museum. It does so within the context of the new disciplines which are the phenomena of new media practices, the discourses surrounding exhibition development and broader changes to museum provenance, patrimony, collection and display. / Focusing on the establishment of an exhibition discourse within diversifying new media environments, the thesis proposes a theoretical framework of textual strategies and spatial sequences which emerge from the virtualisation of the museum. The research investigates the semiotic structures which enable museum display to be conceived of as a text and proposes methods of visual analysis which can be used to evaluate exhibition as a communication form. A series of spatial and temporal sequences of virtual display are derived from theoretical exploration and case-evaluation. These form the basis of the development of the notion of sites of virtual display. Situated within an interdisciplinary framework, the research aims to contribute to exhibition development praxis by identifying generic and specific factors which contextualise the development of virtual display. / The thesis tests the theoretical framework of textual strategies and spatial sequences through the development of an ontology of virtual display. The ontology is tested through education materials developed within a social constructivist pedagogical model. Using qualitative methods, the studies test the validity of the ontology as a model for situating reflective practices within museum exhibition design. The model is intended to inform the ways in which new media technologies are applied in the museum exhibition environment. / The research responds to the challenges posed by new media technologies in negotiating and appropriating techniques of communication and display in the museum exhibition environment. / Thesis (PhDArchitectureandDesign)--University of South Australia, 2004.