Venue:  Dora Scott Annex Gallery, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein

 Dates:  5 December 2024 – 09 February 2025

Father Frans Claerhout's famous series, Christ and the other person, is currently on exhibition at Oliewenhuis Art Museum, a satellite of the National Museum, Bloemfontein, an agency of the Department of Sport, Art and Culture.

This beautiful series of 25 oil paintings are on display in the Annex at Oliewenhuis Art Museum from 5 December 2024 – 09 February 2025. The series is on permanent loan to Oliewenhuis Art Museum from The Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Father Frans Claerhout was born in Pitten, Belgium in 1919. After completing his training for priesthood, Claerhout came to South Africa in 1946 and was based in Thaba ‘Nchu (close to Bloemfontein) as Catholic priest and missionary. Claerhout was a founding member of the Bloemfontein Group, and he participated in numerous group exhibitions, and had his first solo exhibition in Johannesburg in 1961. Apart from practicing his own art, he played a significant part in developing local talent, including artists represented in Oliewenhuis Art Museum’s Permanent Collection such as Albert Dasheka, John Tladi, Micheal Mosala and George Ramagaga.

Father Claerhout was a self-taught oil painter with no formal training, but came from an artistic family. He painted mostly people, scenes from around the mission stations where he was based, and religious scenes, using a distinct expressionistic style. He was commissioned to paint several murals at mission stations throughout South Africa, including in Bloemfontein Schweitzer-Reineke, Thaba ‘Nchu, Potchefstroom and Witsieshoek. Claerhout died in 2006 at the age of 87.

Claerhout explained this particular series as follows: "The series of Christ and the other person is a meditation of Christ and People.  What Christ is, cannot be found in research by the human mind. He was HUMAN - with and for man.  I feel I do not know much about him, but what I know and feel, that I like. Faith is to be delightfully underage, expectantly. Christ is the same in all his encounters with people, but each time different.  A Man for all seasons. He stirred the heart of all people and in this series are a few [of these people]. I hope that, with reference to the Gospel text, the 25 paintings will bring us love and growth. The last picture is the secret of faith: Christ alone. Who is the other person, me, you, us? "

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1^st floor. R10 parking fee will be charged but entrance to the museum is free.

For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or ontwerp@nasmus.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.

Dates: 5 December 2024 – 23 March 2025

Venue: Reservoir, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of Venture, an exhibition that artfully interweaves recent acquisitions with established works from ArtbankSA's contemporary collection. Venture transforms viewers into adventurers, inviting them to discover fresh perspectives through diverse media displayed in the Reservoir at Oliewenhuis Art Museum. The collection showcases cutting-edge artworks that explore South African diaspora and rich cultural themes.

ArtbankSA, a National Program of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, is hosted by the National Museum in Bloemfontein. Launched in 2017, the program was established to support and acquire works from emerging South African artists. Venture marks the continuation of ArtbankSA's second phase. Five years after its inception, ArtbankSA continues to thrive and now offers artworks for sale to companies, organizations, and private collectors.

Venture celebrates ArtbankSA's significant achievements in this relatively short period. Visitors will experience newly acquired works alongside carefully curated pieces from the existing collection, offering insights through the lens of remarkable emerging artists from across the country. The exhibition creates meaningful dialogues about pressing contemporary issues addressed by these artists. Art, as a visual language, has the power to spark conversations about various themes, including displacement and relocation—subjects particularly relevant to South Africa's economic landscape. The ArtbankSA curatorial team states: “The exhibition confronts the devastating reality of gender-based violence, patriarchy, and female suppression, issues that resonate both locally and globally. Through their artistic practices, participating artists critically engage with themes of identity, loss, and cultural heritage.”

All artworks exhibited in Venture are available for purchase. Visitors are invited to discover the perfect addition to their collections. Whether taking first steps into art collecting, building an emerging collection, or adding to an established portfolio, our diverse price ranges make authentic South African art accessible to all.

For inquiries about acquiring artwork, please contact Ester le Roux at artbank@nasmus.co.za or visit the ArtbankSA website at www.artbanksa.org to view the entire collection.

Venture will be on view until 23 March 2025. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1^st floor.

For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or ontwerp@nasmus.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of its latest exhibition, Ethereal: A journey through colour and imagination, curated by the talented young Art Museum Guides, Zethu Mvila and Ziya Khubeka.

Ethereal invites visitors into a captivating and serene world where colour, texture, and light converge to create an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. The curators have selected artworks from both Oliewenhuis Art Museum's Permanent Collection and ArtbankSA's contemporary collection, all of which share a light, airy, and playful tone. The works evoke a sense of weightlessness, with dreamlike qualities and heavenly abstract forms that transport the viewer into a realm of quiet beauty and stillness.

The exhibition explores how colour can evoke serenity and wonder, encouraging visitors to step away from the familiar and embrace a refreshing aesthetic. Ethereal is designed to create a sense of ‘querencia’, a place where time stands still and the outside world fades away, allowing for a peaceful connection to the artwork and atmosphere. With soft ambient lighting and carefully placed artworks, the exhibition offers a floating experience through realms of colour and imagination.

In a world that often feels overwhelming, Ethereal offers a reprieve, inviting visitors to experience openness, peace, and a gentle, playful view of the world around us. Each artwork in the exhibition invites reflection, offering new perspectives on the beauty of colour, form, and texture.

The exhibition will be on view until Sunday, 2 March 2025. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein. The museum is open Monday to Friday, from 08:00 to 17:00, and on weekends and public holidays from 09:00 to 16:00. Admission is free, and secure parking is available for R10 per vehicle (payable in cash). The museum is fully accessible, with a ramp at the main entrance and a lift providing access to the first floor.

For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or ontwerp@nasmus.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.

What is an Art Museum Guide?

An Art Museum Guide is a dedicated and motivated student or recent graduate who is employed by the National Museum, Bloemfontein, to work at Oliewenhuis Art Museum for a fixed-term internship as an Art Museum Guide.

The role of an Art Museum Guide:

The Art Museum Guides at Oliewenhuis Art Museum receive training and practical experience to prepare for future employment in the creative sector. They are responsible for safeguarding all exhibitions and providing information to visitors, assists with education initiatives, addressing questions about the art museum, activities and exhibitions, and leading informative guided tours. Additionally, they assist with a variety of art museum related administrative tasks, exhibitions, projects, events, educational workshops, and activities.

Exhibition:  Blind Alphabet A by Willem Boshoff

Dates:            08 November 2024 - 09 February 2025

Venue:           Oliewenhuis Art Museum (Annex Gallery)

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is honoured to present an exhibition dedicated to Willem Boshoff’s Blind Alphabet A. Willem Boshoff is a conceptual artist primarily interested in words and language, who holds the view that touching provides a more intimate experience than sight. Touch eliminates distance, whereas sight enforces it; touch is committed to immediate experience, whereas sight is illusionary and superficial. He had long realised that the foremost experts in the field of touch aesthetics must be those who are physically blind, those who depend on touch for their survival. The unfortunate blunted sense of touch in sighted people has resulted in what could be called 'visual touching'.

Boshoff's work redresses the place of blindness as an unfortunate metaphor for ineptitude and ignorance. He aims to ennoble the state of blindness in the context of a perceived lack of understanding. Deplorable phrases such as 'blind fool' and 'blind idiot' are firmly rooted in common language and only re-education through strategic community development can remedy such indiscretion. Apart from its service to casual blind visitors, the project effectively employs artworks as blind guides to educate the sighted, for the first time in history of art, in an art gallery. It asks what the blind can do for us, not what we can do for the blind. It recognizes that the blind have definite power in the field of touch awareness. The blind are chirosophists, which, when loosely translated, means 'hand-wise'.

In 1991, while Boshoff was compiling an abstruse post-modern dictionary for blind people, he became attracted to interesting words that describe form, structure and texture. He realised that sculptors and critics of sculpture who pride themselves on vast knowledge of their subject were completely ignorant of these terms. The terms were 'blind' and 'dead' to them. Abstruse words like calceolate, apopetalous, anisophylly, bothrenchymatous, bostrychoid and aiguiletted already existed in recognised English dictionaries, but they are lost. If the blind were to reveal a most advanced descriptive language for the objects and surfaces of touch, it would make them credible witnesses of that experience. It is normally the sighted who help the blind to 'see' things by means of descriptive language.

Boshoff collected these exclusive, yet relevant morphological terms for the Blind Alphabet Project between 1991 and 1992. In 1993, he began sculpting the words into descriptive shapes, small enough to be picked up and fondled by blind chirosophists. By February 1994, 338 shapes depicting words beginning with the letters A, B and C were ready. In 1994 he researched and prepared information for special Braille plaques and designed an exhibition system for the project.

On exhibition is a selection from the Blind Alphabet A, a fragment of the project, which is part of Oliewenhuis Art Museum's Permanent Collection. All the words that initiated the shapes for the blind in this section begin with the letter A.

The acquisition of the Blind Alphabet A for Oliewenhuis Art Museum's Permanent Collection was made possible by generous donations from First National Bank and the National Council of Women of South Africa, Bloemfontein Branch.

The exhibition can be viewed until Sunday, 09 February 2025.

More about Willem Boshoff:

Willem Boshoff was born in Vereeniging, South Africa, in 1951 and now lives in Johannesburg. Boshoff studied and taught at the Johannesburg College of Art and the Witwatersrand Technikon (now the University of Johannesburg). He is both a wordsmith and a maker of images and objects. A self-taught dendrologist, his interests range widely across the fields of botany, literature, and geography. He has created concrete poetry; he reads and compiles dictionaries; he is a sculptor and creates installations; he is an inveterate seeker of words, names, plants, and objects (both natural and synthetic), from which he constructs his art.

Boshoff's encyclopaedic impulse is evidenced in his collecting and making practices: everything is material for making art, every detail in the natural world is imbued with meaning, and can be appropriated or spoken of with fervour. His work has been exhibited in many major museums around the world, and he has participated in biennales in Johannesburg, Havana, Venice, and São Paulo. In a performance at Art Unlimited in Basel in 2009, Boshoff presented Big Druid in his Cubicle, literally setting up residence in the exhibition space provided for the duration of the show. His solo exhibitions and permanent installations include Blind Alphabet; Nonplussed; dictionaries and cryptic writings such as Bangboek; the ever-growing Garden of Words and his massive sculptures in stone.

Boshoff has been a senior visiting professor at the University of the Free State’s Fine Arts Department since 2013 and continues in this role. He has recently been awarded an A2 rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF). The University of the Free State has announced that this marks a significant for both the institution and the nation in the field of art. Boshoff is currently mentoring postgraduate students and spends part of the year on the Bloemfontein campus, although he is primarily based in Gauteng.

For more information, please visit: www.willemboshoff.com

Awards:

1995: Recipient of a grant from Anglo American Chairman's Fund to facilitate exhibition costs for Blind Alphabet ABC at Johannesburg Biennale; recipient of a research grant from the Foundation for the Creative Arts to continue work on Blind Alphabet Project; nominated for the Alumnus of the Year Award by Technikon Witwatersrand.

1996: South African representative at the São Paulo Art Biennial.

1997: Winner of the FNB Vita Award for Art.

1998: winner of the Ludwig Gies-Preis für Kleinplastik by the LETTER Stiftung, Cologne, Germany.

1999: Winner of Gauteng Arts Culture and Heritage Award for Visual Art.

2000: South African representative at the Havana Biennale, Cuba.

2001: SA Academy for Science and Art: recipient of honorary medal for Visual Arts, Sculpture.

2001: Winner of the Helgard Steyn Award for Sculpture.

2008: Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy, University of Johannesburg.

2017: Winner of the Claire and Edoardo Villa Will Trust Award.

2020: Awarded academic A2 rating by the National Research Foundation of South Africa.

Represented in the following collections, amongst others:

Unisa Art Gallery; BHP Billiton Art Collection, Johannesburg; Technikon Witwatersrand (now University of Johannesburg); IZIKO SA National Gallery, Cape Town; Johannesburg Art Gallery; University of the Witwatersrand; King George VI Gallery, Port Elizabeth; Durban Art Gallery; Sandton Municipal Collection, Johannesburg; Pretoria Art Museum; Jack Ginsberg Collection of Book Arts, Johannesburg; Pierre Lombart Collection of Contemporary South African Art; David Krut Collection of Fine Art, Johannesburg; Southern: A Contemporary Collection, Johannesburg; Sackner Archives of Concrete and Visual Poetry, Miami, Florida, USA; Robert Loder Collection of International Art, London; collection of ARTSENSE, a group that promotes art among the visually impaired, Birmingham UK; Sammlung der Städtische Galerie, Göppingen, Germany; MTN Art Collection, Johannesburg; Sanlam Corporate Collection, Cape Town; Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit (now University of Johannesburg); Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Dimension Data, Johannesburg; Constitutional Court of South Africa; Reserve Bank of South Africa; Ferguson Collection, Boston; Migros Museum, Zürich, Matthias and Gervanne Leridon Collection, Paris, France, Ellerman House Collection of Paul Harris.

Listed below are several venues where Blind Alphabet has been exhibited, besides at Oliewenhuis Art Museum in 1996 (most often in sections indicated according to letters mentioned below):

1995: Blind Alphabet ABC shown at the Johannesburg Art Gallery as part of Outside Inside, an exhibition curated by Julia Charlton for the Africus Biennale 1995.

Also selected for the FNB VITA Art Now exhibition, Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Blind Alphabet B: 90 sculptures exhibited at Siyawela, an exhibition of South African Art at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, England.

1996: Blind Alphabet A: 94 words/sculptures acquired by Director Stephan Hundt and exhibited by Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

Blind Alphabet B: (46 words/sculptures) shown at FNB Vita Art Now, Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Blind Alphabet C: (77 words/sculptures) exhibited in Atlanta, USA as part of an exhibition of South African Art.

To access the Education Leaflet for the Exhibition, please click here.

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of Sojourn, a compelling exhibition exploration of transience and transformation in contemporary South African art. Curated from the Art Bank of South Africa Collection, this exhibition interrogates the concept of temporary stays and their profound impact on human experience.

Sojourn examines the intricate interplay between transience and permanence, challenging perceptions of time, place, and identity. The carefully curated selection navigates the multifaceted dimensions of sojourning through diverse artistic expressions.

Vanessa Tembane's digital collages juxtapose South African imagery with those of her Mozambican relatives, creating hybridized composites that explore cultural identity and diaspora experiences. By incorporating capulanas - traditional fabrics from her ancestral homeland—Tembane constructs imagined memories, fostering a deeper sense of belonging.

Audrey Anderson's cityscapes, rendered in printmaking and ink on canvas, feature enlarged figures floating above urban landscapes, echoing themes of displacement and observation. This visual metaphor resonates with the exhibition's exploration of temporary dwelling and its impact on perception.

Identity as a theme is prominently featured in works by Lebo Thoka, Ilené Bothma, and Dimakatso Mathopa. Their pieces reflect on female representation, self-mirroring, and the loss of identity due to patriarchal norms or gender-based violence, offering a poignant commentary on societal sojourns.

Azrael Langa's Mobile Home expressively captures the essence of transience. The artist's use of acrylic and smoke on canvas to depict a female figure carrying her belongings emphasizes the fragility of her reality, embodying the exhibition's central theme of impermanence.

The ArtbankSA curatorial team states: "Through Sojourn, we aim to foster dialogue about impermanence and its role in shaping our understanding of self and other. This exhibition invites reconsideration of our relationships with place, time, and cultural identity in an increasingly interconnected world."

The exhibition can be viewed until Sunday, 17 November 2024. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1^st floor.

This exhibition not only offers a viewing experience but also provides an opportunity to acquire contemporary artworks. For more information about ArtbankSA and artwork acquisition, please visit www.artbanksa.org or contact Yolanda de Kock at fs1@artbanksa.org or 051 447 9606.

For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or oliewen@nasmus.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.

Dates: 19/09/2024 – 10/11/2024 (19 September – 10 November 2024)

Venue: Oliewenhuis Art Museum (Reservoir)

Opening: 19:00 on Thursday, 19 September 2024

Walkabout: 11:00 on Friday, 20 September 2024

This multifaceted solo-exhibition by Majak Bredell comprises numerous artworks with lively compositions, and the various combinations of figures, animals, plants and insects in imaginative landscapes, create an intriguing and enjoyable viewers’ experience. INTERCONNECTIONS celebrates the vibrancy and interdependence of all of nature’s many bodies, including the human body. These artworks are well thought through and speak of deep and prolonged contemplation of the concepts that the artist works with. 

Majak explains: ‘The work in this exhibition, INTERCONNECTIONS, is organized in two parts: the large works on paper in which I create DIALOGUES & ANALOGIES between the human body and the body of the earth …  and LEVELS & LAYERS in which I play with the interconnections between the above and the below and the many elements and creatures that inhabit the earth. In both parts I unravel the strands by which parts of the natural world have been woven through the fabric of religion, mythology, and lore.  And, in my hope for the future of our planet, I use this unravelling to suggest that our affinity with the natural and animal world has always been there — hidden in plain sight.’

In the large artworks on paper, DIALOGUES & ANALOGIES, Majak metaphorically and symbolically connect the human body to the sacred body of Earth and the cosmos that surround us. The nude figures become a symbol of humankind that can also be seen to represent the naked truth. In her explorations and dialogues between the human body and nature’s many ‘bodies’ she asks that if we would see the earth as a living organism - similar to our own bodies, would we treat her better? In her words: ‘Would we feel the impact of ecological destruction, pollution, and exploitation as wounds to ourselves?’

The contents of LEVELS & LAYERS are placed on horizontal bands of colour, inspired by the illuminations of the 8^th century Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana. Majak finds this a versatile and pleasing arrangement on which to stage interconnected ideas about our relationship to the ‘more-than-human’ world. Through extracting symbols and analogies that connect religion, mythology and lore to nature, the skies and the creatures whether ‘winged, finned, hoofed, clawed, scaled or carapaced’, she wants to draw our attention to earth (our planet) as a living organism or body, as well as the sacred ground of our earthly existence. She explains: ‘Most of us were socialised to look upward to find the sacred in the invisible realm. I reverse this notion in many of the works by returning the gaze earthward, towards the sacred body of the Earth.’

Majak Bredell was born in Kroonstad in 1945. In 1981 she emigrated to New York were her reading and art-making developed a strong feminist sensibility that questioned the gender of god and its effect on women and sense of self.  During this time, she wrote Sacred Scars that was self-published in 2017. She returned to South Africa in 2004 to build a studio where she lives on the side of the Drakensberg in Limpopo.  Majak produced several extensive bodies of work that look at established mythology from a feminist perspective: ALTER IMAGES 1 & 2, ROLL CALL and CODEX MAGDALENE+. These were exhibited variously at: The Association of Arts, Pretoria, The University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, The White River Gallery in Mpumalanga and The Polokwane Art Museum in Limpopo.

In 2020-21 a retrospective exhibition curated by Elfriede Dreyer, MAJAK BREDELL: THE NEW YORK YEARS 1981-2003 was mounted simultaneously at The Pretoria Art Museum and The Association of Arts, Pretoria.

Before travelling to Oliewenhuis Art Museum, INTERCONNECTIONS was shown at The Association of Arts, Pretoria and The White River Gallery, Mpumalanga.

Download the exhibition leaflet here:

The public is invited to join Oliewenhuis Art Museum for the opening of INTERCONNECTIONS. The opening will take place at 19:00 on Thursday, 19 September 2024 in the Reservoir at Oliewenhuis Art Museum. Everyone is welcome and entrance is free of charge. Refreshments will be served.

A walkabout of the exhibition will be conducted by the artist at 11:00 on Friday, 20 September 2024.

The exhibition can be viewed until Sunday, 10 November 2024. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1^st floor. R10 parking fee will be charged but entrance to the museum is free.

For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or oliewen@nasmus.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.

Dates: 22 August – 29 September 2024

Venue: Oliewenhuis Art Museum (Main Building)

Sophia Gray (1814 –1871) was the first woman to practise architecture in South Africa and one of the earliest women in the world to do so. As a tribute to her achievements, the University of the Free State instituted the annual Sophia Gray Memorial Lecture and Exhibition in 1989 to recognise the contributions of a practising architect. This year’s lecture and exhibition, In the Making of Meaningful Things is presented by André Eksteen and Braam de Villiers founders of Earthworld Architects.

Earthworld Architects & Interiors was established in 2000 and aims to push the boundaries of creativity while also maintaining a strong focus on sustainability.  Designing for commercial, institutional and residential projects, a core philosophy of the practice is to seek opportunities to use the process of design and construction as a catalyst for positive change in South Africa. 

Exhibition:     Learning through art: The Museum as classroom

A Visual Arts curriculum-based exhibition curated from Oliewenhuis Art Museum's Permanent Collection.

Venue:  Main Building, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein

Dates:  14 June 2024 – 11 August 2024

Learning through art: The Museum as classroom was curated to enhance the learning experience for Grade 10-12 visual art learners by providing them with the opportunity to view and engage with artworks that are directly related to their curriculum. This initiative aims to bring the classroom to life by allowing students to see the artworks in person, rather than just in a handbook, and to analyse them in a real-world setting.

By transforming the museum into a classroom, it provides a unique and immersive learning experience for both teachers and learners, allowing them to explore and appreciate the artworks in a new and meaningful way. The exhibition covers a diverse array of subjects, placing special emphasis on socio-political matters, gender politics, South African artists influenced by African art, and digital art and new media. Learning through art: The Museum as classroom provides an in-depth exploration of the creations of well-known artists who are prominently featured in visual art textbooks, including Irma Stern, Norman Catherine, Diane Victor, and William Kentridge. Other contemporary artists’ work to enjoy, include a recently acquired artwork by Mary Sibande, and artworks by Nandipha Mntambo, Nomusa Makhubu and Helen Sebidi.

In addition to benefiting students, this thought provoking exhibition also caters to a wider audience who have an interest in art, offering a visual celebration of South African artworks from Oliewenhuis Art Museum’s Permanent Collection that are not commonly on display.

Learning through art: The Museum as classroom can be viewed until 11 August 2024. For inquiries about booking a free guided tour, contact Natley Barnardo, the educational officer at Oliewenhuis Art Museum, via email at education@nasmus.co.za.

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1^st floor. R10 parking fee will be charged but entrance to the museum is free.

Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.

Venue: Reservoir, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein

Opening: 2 July 2024 at 18:00

Walkabout: 5 July at 11:00 

Dates: 2 July – 25 August 2024

This captivating exhibition draws its title and inspiration from William Ernest Henley's 1875 poem "Invictus" – a beacon of hope that resonated deeply with Nelson Mandela during his 27-year imprisonment.

More than just a historical footnote, Invictus – Spirit of Democracy pulses with renewed relevance in South Africa today. It echoes the nation's ongoing struggles while celebrating the individual strength and determination that fuel the country's democratic spirit. This exhibition is not just a showcase; it's a powerful reminder to dream of a hopeful future while reckoning with uncomfortable historic truths.

Through the visionary eyes of contemporary artists, Invictus – Spirit of Democracy aims to cultivate hope, reconciliation, and nation-building. Prepare to be moved by a tapestry of visual comparisons and contrasting viewpoints. Thalente Khomo's evocative photographs delve into the complexities of memory, questioning how our past becomes the baggage we carry into adulthood. Azael Langa's mesmerising Mobile Home employs paint and smoke on canvas, freezing moments of ghostlike, fragmented figures in their daily struggle for survival. This innovative technique gives voice to the untold stories of those who carry their entire lives with them each day. Thembinkosi Ntuli's joyous African Praise offers a striking counterpoint, portraying dancing maidens through a dazzling array of colourful beads meticulously woven onto canvas.

While Invictus – Spirit of Democracy doesn't shy away from the uncomfortable truths of contemporary South Africa, it also celebrates moments of pure joy and breathtaking beauty. This exhibition is more than a collection of artworks – it's a journey through the soul of a nation, reflecting its struggles, triumphs, and unwavering spirit.

Join us as we honour the unconquered spirit of South Africa through the transformative power of art. Invictus – Spirit of Democracy isn't just an exhibition; it's a rallying cry for empowerment and active participation in shaping our shared future.

With this exhibition the audience is invited to not only experience artworks at the museum, but it also provides the opportunity to acquire contemporary artworks. For more information about ArtbankSA and its core functions, please visit the website at www.artbanksa.org and follow us on

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. For more information about leasing and purchasing artworks, please contact Yolanda de Kock, Acting Assistant Project Manager on fs1@artbanksa.org or 051 447 9606.

The exhibition can be viewed until Sunday, 25 August 2024. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1^st floor. R10 parking fee will be charged but entrance to the museum is free.

Venue:  Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein

Opening: 2 July 2024 at 18:00

Walkabout: 3 July at 11:00 

Dates:  2 July – 8 September 2024

“I symbolize, visualize and use patterns of contouring lines from geographic views of bodies and land by using plastic, crocheting the stories together, weaving and braiding to trace back the past, and bodies that carry us in rooms and spaces we dwell in.”

In her debut solo exhibition, Kutlwano Monyai draws inspiration from her upbringing, and domestic, cultural, economic and spiritual environment to narrate stories from her maternal lineage. She re-imagines and re-creates functional items by crocheting, weaving and braiding plastics, creating tapestries and soft sculptural installations. These functional items that she references act as gestures of care, mindfulness, existence, and as archives that hold memories, stories and experiences related to acts of service from her maternal lineage, aesthetic influences and generational knowledge. 

The title of the exhibition, Lefeloboiketlo (A place of rest), speaks of ‘collecting’ slices of time, heterotopias (spaces) that can cause transformation, as well as the idea of waiting and the phenomena of rest.

Monyai’s artworks highlight women’s labour, within society. Her community, personal household dynamics, and the laborious processes of weaving, crocheting and braiding replicate these. These are memorial techniques, old traditional methods that were used for years. They reflect on the history of women’s experiences and, most importantly, re-imagines the future. “As a sculptor and painter, I use some of these skills and techniques to form and crochet sculptural objects that remind me of the tedious tasks within a domestic space such as doing laundry with my mother or cooking. These tasks would not go without having a conversation or sharing knowledge, even in moments of silence the communication is evidently loud from routines.” She uses ‘domestic plastic materials’ to navigate and express memories of growing up, conversations with her maternal support system, and to indicate the personal economic and environmental contributions made by women.

As an academic and researcher, Monyai is also curious and interested in the history of black women’s archival practices within their studio and/or working environments.

Kutlwano Monyai (b. 1996), was born in Limpopo and resides in Pretoria. She has recently completed a post graduate diploma in Fine and Applied Arts at the Tshwane University of Technology. As an artist, Monyai has been part of several group exhibitions and local art fairs, including the GenXis group exhibition, in 2018 and KASRP exhibition in 2019 (hosted at the Pretoria Art Museum). In 2021, she exhibited at the Bag Factory in a show titled Summer Salon 30^th Anniversary. She exhibited with UNTITLD Collective at the Turbine Art Fair in 2019, earlier that year, she completed a residency at Modern Arts Projects South Africa in the Karoo. In 2021, she was awarded the Young Woman Studio Residency (YWSR) at the Bag Factory.

The public is invited to join Oliewenhuis Art Museum for the opening of Lefeloboiketlo (A place of rest). The opening will take place at 18:00 on Tuesday, 2 July 2024 at Oliewenhuis Art Museum. Everyone is welcome and entrance is free of charge. Refreshments will be served.

A walkabout of the exhibition will be conducted by the artist at 11:00 on Wednesday, 3 July 2024.

The exhibition can be viewed until Sunday, 8 September 2024. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1^st floor. R10 parking fee will be charged but entrance to the museum is free.

For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or oliewen@nationalmuseum.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is excited to announce that the Great Expectations: Selected works from ArtbankSA Contemporary Art Collection, will be showcased at the museum from 14 March to 2 June 2024. This poignant, yet inspiring exhibition, travelled from the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria, and will be on display for the local and surrounding audiences.

As South Africa gears for the 2024 general elections, Great Expectations takes a moment to reflect on dreams and hopes held for a free and equal South Africa almost three decades ago. The exhibition is a thought-provoking and meaningful exploration of identity, society, the built environment, and the spirit of the times in the context of the country's 30-year journey towards democracy.

The exhibition continues the conversation on the overall curatorial theme around meaning making by way of visual art, exploring, heritage, the self, and the collective contemporary South Africa plunged into a reckoning around uncomfortable historic truths and reflecting on the future implications of the decisions made now with a special focus on the disconnect between expectations, reality, and the audacity to find hope.

Great Expectations exhibition was curated with a selection of artworks from Art Bank of South Africa Contemporary Art Collection by the entity’s Project Manager Nonto Msomi. It features works by notable South African contemporary artists including Banele Khoza, Lithemba Mpambani, Luyanda Zindela, Mkhize Khulekani, Mothobi Mefane, Thando Mama, Zakhale Hlabisa and Mellaney Roberts to list a few. The selected artist’s works make a monumental contribution in capturing the complex tapestry of experiences, aspirations, and challenges that have shaped the nation during its post-apartheid era.

While the ArtbankSA’s mandate is to purchase artworks from South African artists, particularly that of emerging artists to lease and sell the artworks to South African government departments, private companies, and private individuals, Msomi is tasked with establishing and developing the entity’s Contemporary Visual Art Collection. She has extensive experience in the art world having worked as the Assistant Director at the William Humphreys Art Gallery (2020-2021), the visual arts coordinator, curator, and facilitator at the BAT Centre Trust (2017), lead for the Cultural Activities and Youth Programming for the International AIDS Conference (2016), and the KZN regional coordinator of Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) (2013-2015).

The exhibition will be on view until Sunday, 2 June 2024. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is situated at 16 Harry Smith Street in Bloemfontein. The Museum is open to the public from Monday to Friday, operating hours are from 08:00 to 17:00. On Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, the museum is open from 09:00 to 16:00. Admission is free, and there is secure parking available for visitors at a cost of R10 per car, payable in cash. Wheelchair access is provided through a ramp at the main entrance, and there is also a lift available for access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the first floor.

To obtain further details regarding the opening or exhibition, kindly get in touch with Yolanda de Kock, Assistant Project Manager of ArtbankSA at 051 447 9606 or fs1@artbanksa.org.

About the Art Bank of South Africa

Art Bank of South Africa (ArtbankSA) is a national programme of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture as part of the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) strategy implementation and is hosted by the National Museum Bloemfontein, an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. Its vision is to promote, foster and stimulate a vibrant market for the collection of South African contemporary visual art through the lease and sell of artworks to South African government departments, private companies, and private individuals.

Visit www.artbanksa.org for more information.

Exhibition:  Realigned, an exhibition curated by the Art Museum Guides at Oliewenhuis Art Museum

Venue:  The Reservoir, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein

 Dates:  7 March – 5 May 2024

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is excited to present an exhibition titled Realigned, curated by the current Art Museum Guides; Jacobeth Selinga, Zethu Mvila, Ziya Khubeka, Wandile Maseko, Mpho Nyeule and Mikayla Swartz, with assistance of the Education Officer, Natley Barnardo. These young individuals used their creative abilities to skilfully curate a reflective exhibition that encourages one to reflect, connect and realign with self.

The exhibition was curated by selecting artworks from Oliewenhuis Art Museum’s Permanent Collection, The Art Bank of South Africa and artefacts from the Collection Management and Library Department. Realigned features inspiring artists such as Leora Farber, Judy Woodborne, Lionel Abrahams, and Michael Selekane among many great South African artists. The aforementioned artists creatively and efficiently examine a variety of subjects through their different visual expressions, making for an engaging viewing experience.

The exhibition's title is derived from the word "re-alignment," which refers to the act of changing or restoring something to a different or former position or state. The subjects that are explored are roots, identity, mental issues, body image, journey, tranquillity and restoration. Roots reflect back on where we come from, the teachings of elders and the legacy they have left. Identity takes you on a path of self-discovery. Mental issues investigate how the body responds to trauma and psychological issues. Body image confronts beauty and societal standards. Journey leads you down a path with no clear destination in mind; it urges you to embrace the path itself. Tranquillity celebrates the calm that follows after the storm. Restoration contemplates on the aforementioned topics. Realigned leads one on a journey of self-discovery, encouraging confrontation, reflection and connection with oneself.

This annual exhibition, curated by the Interns: Art Museum Guides at Oliewenhuis Art Museum under the mentoring and guidance of the Curator and Education Officer, forms part of the Art Museum Guides' thorough training and experience throughout their contract period. They are given the opportunity to collaborate on an exhibition as a group, from conceptualising the theme to selecting artworks, writing the curatorial statement and press release, and curating and displaying the show in the allocated exhibition space. They also receive practical expertise in the professional handling and installation of artworks.

The exhibition can be viewed until Sunday, 5 May 2024. Oliewenhuis Art Museum can be found at 16 Harry Smith Street in Bloemfontein. It is open to the public from Monday to Friday, operating hours are from 08:00 to 17:00. On Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, the museum is open from 09:00 to 16:00. Admission is free, and there is secure parking available for visitors at a cost of R10 per car, payable in cash. Wheelchair access is provided through a ramp at the main entrance, and there is also a lift available for access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the first floor.

To obtain further details regarding the opening or exhibition, kindly get in touch with the Museum via phone at 078 968 4300 or email at oliewen@nationalmuseum.co.za.

What is an Art Museum Guide?

An Art Museum Guide is a dedicated and motivated student or recent graduate who is employed by the National Museum, Bloemfontein, to work at Oliewenhuis Art Museum for a fixed-term internship as an Art Museum Guide.

The role of an Art Museum Guide:

The Art Museum Guides at Oliewenhuis Art Museum receive training and practical experience to prepare for future employment in the creative sector. They are responsible for safeguarding all exhibitions and providing information to visitors, assists with education initiatives, addressing questions about the art museum, activities and exhibitions, and leading informative guided tours. Additionally, they assist with a variety of art museum related administrative tasks, exhibitions, projects, events, educational workshops, and activities.

Exhibition:  Christ and the other person, a series by Father Frans Claerhout

Venue:  Annex Gallery, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein

Dates:  1 December 2023 – 18 February 2024

Father Frans Claerhout's famous series, Christ and the other person, is currently on exhibition at Oliewenhuis Art Museum, a satellite of the National Museum, Bloemfontein, an agency of the Department of Sport, Art and Culture.

This beautiful series of 25 oil paintings are on display in the Annex at Oliewenhuis Art Museum from 1 December 2023 to 18 February 2024. The series is on permanent loan to Oliewenhuis Art Museum from The Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Father Frans Claerhout was born in Pitten, Belgium in 1919. After completing his training for priesthood, Claerhout came to South Africa in 1946 and was based in Thaba ‘Nchu (close to Bloemfontein) as Catholic priest and missionary. Claerhout was a founding member of the Bloemfontein Group, and he participated in numerous group exhibitions, and had his first solo exhibition in Johannesburg in 1961. Apart from practicing his own art, he played a significant part in developing local talent, including artists represented in Oliewenhuis Art Museum’s Permanent Collection such as Albert Dasheka, John Tladi, Micheal Mosala and George Ramagaga.

Father Claerhout was a self-taught oil painter with no formal training, but came from an artistic family. He painted mostly people, scenes from around the mission stations where he was based, and religious scenes, using a distinct expressionistic style. He was commissioned to paint several murals at mission stations throughout South Africa, including in Bloemfontein Schweitzer-Reineke, Thaba ‘Nchu, Potchefstroom and Witsieshoek. Claerhout died in 2006 at the age of 87.

Claerhout explained this particular series as follows: "The series of Christ and the other person is a meditation of Christ and People.  What Christ is, cannot be found in research by the human mind. He was HUMAN - with and for man.  I feel I do not know much about him, but what I know and feel, that I like. Faith is to be delightfully underage, expectantly. Christ is the same in all his encounters with people, but each time different.  A Man for all seasons. He stirred the heart of all people and in this series are a few [of these people]. I hope that, with reference to the Gospel text, the 25 paintings will bring us love and growth. The last picture is the secret of faith: Christ alone. Who is the other person, me, you, us? "

Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1^st floor. R10 parking fee will be charged but entrance to the museum is free.

For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or oliewen@nationalmuseum.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.