Question NW2410 to the Minister of Higher Education and Training
11 September 2018 - NW2410
Bozzoli, Prof B to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training
(1)Has the University of Cape Town (UCT) begun to (a) plan and/or (b) construct the new art gallery promised at the time of the Fees Must Fall protests; if not, (i) why not and (ii) by what date will planning and construction begin; if so, what progress has been made in each case; (2) has UCT made overtures to, or offered an apology to, artists whose artworks were damaged, destroyed or censored during the Fees Must Fall protests; if not, why not; if so, what (a) is the name of each artist with whom communication was made and (b) are the details of the communication that has taken place in each case; (3) (a) what number of artworks remain censored at UCT, either through being physically covered up or placed out of sight and (b)(i) which category of artworks remain censored and (ii) what is the name of each affected (aa) artist and (bb) artwork?
Reply:
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has provided the following responses to the questions posed.
- UCT intends to construct an Art Gallery. However, this has not yet materialised due to competing capital projects and other priorities.
- UCT has not made any apologies to individual artists. However, UCT has condemned the vandalism and violence that led to the destruction of the Art Gallery.
- UCT does not censor artwork. Where artworks have been removed from public spaces on campus, this was to protect the artwork against possible damage during times of tension and facilitate on-going consultative processes around curatorial policies that are informed by the context of the university’s public spaces, which have become a subject of contestation.
UCT welcomes these debates while recognising the moral rights of artists and the need to balance the rights of various parties. The University does not acquire artwork with any condition, requirement or understanding that it will be on display forever. It remains the University’s prerogative to determine when, where and for how long it will display the artwork.
In respect of the Sarah Baartman sculpture, UCT will host an exhibition at the Ritchie Gallery from 20 September 2018 to 4 October 2018. In preparation for this exhibition, the sculpture has been removed from the Chancellor Oppenheimer Library. UCT remains committed to its programme of public debates about the display of artwork.