02. Who are we?
Five talented young artists – Simon Gush, Lance Herman, Justin Krawitz, Ruth Levin-Vorster and Sanjin Muftić – have been awarded the 2011 Donald Gordon Creative Arts Fellowships by UCT’s Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA), giving them the opportunity to take their creative work to a new level. Each year GIPCA awards a limited number of Fellowships for interdisciplinary projects to talented individuals who have graduated with a Masters or the equivalent in recognized creative research. The Fellowships provide for a year-long project with the object of facilitating a bridge between academic study and fully-fledged careers. GIPCA provides the time, as well as the intellectual and creative support to nurture this new generation of artists, performers and creative arts scholars. The Fellowships also intend to encourage the growth of more intensive PhD-level research and scholarship in the creative arts.
Jay Pather, GIPCA’s Director, said he is very excited by the selection committee’s choice of recipients, “These Fellows represent a range of interests and each project involves considered possibilities for innovation, some provocative connections with socio-political contexts as well as collaboration between disciplines. GIPCA’s focus is on developing expanded contexts and interdisciplinary work; each of these Fellows fit well within the Institute requirements and will be actively involved in our activities throughout 2011.”
The Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) facilitates new collaborative and interdisciplinary creative research projects in the disciplines of Music, Dance, Fine Art, Drama, Creative Writing, Film and Media Studies. ‘Interdisciplinarity’ is a key theme of the Institute and projects are imbued with innovation, collaboration and a dialogue with urbanism and community. GIPCA was launched in December 2008 with a substantial grant from Sir Donald Gordon, founder of Liberty Life. An Advisory Board comprising heads of departments of all UCT’s performing and creative arts departments helps to shape the development of projects by the University’s students and staff as well as a wide range of institutions and individuals beyond UCT. For further information on GIPCA visit www.gipcca.uct.ac.za or contact Project Manager Adrienne van Eeden-Wharton on 021 480 7156 or email fin-gipca@uct.ac.za.