The 2017 Faculty of Arts and Design Digital Festival officially opened yesterday evening, (Monday, 6 November 2017) at an event held at the Durban University of Technology’s Arthur Smith Hall.
The 4th Annual DigiFest opening night was attended by DUT Executive Management, eThekwini Municipality’s Mr Eric Apelgren, DUT students and staff as well as artists and sponsors of the festival.
Addressing the attendants, Festival manager, Steven Jones said he and his team were already planning Digifest five which will form part of ISEA 2018. He also pointed out that the 2017 DigiFest had shifted its focus and more emphasis was on student engagement.
“This year we have put together a student committee that has been advising us on a lot of the action that are taking place as well as working with faculties and different departments to produce these events,” said Jones.
Alluding to Jones remarks on engagement was Professor Thandwa Mthembu, the DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal. Prof Mthembu added that he was excited about the DigiFest as it is a demonstration of what the university is all about which is engagement, one of the DUT DNA strands.
“Being embedded in the city as DUT is and as city campuses, I would like to open up our campuses to the citizens of Durban and provide this kaleidoscope of creative arts that you will be witnessing over the next few days. This comes hot off- on the heels after Durban has been declared the city of literature by UNESCO which is about pursuing excellence in literature. So what we are launching is beyond words, it’s about fashion, graphics, interior design, journalism and fine art and that is what the kaleidoscope DUT is known for. DUT is one of the few institutions in the country which has a very strong mix of technology and the arts which so many of you will now witness that combination has been able to revolutionise the world,” said Prof Mthembu.
The DUT Faculty of Arts and Design DigiFest was first launched in September 2014 and it ran over two days. This year the festival will run over six days and has partnered with the Department of Development and Alumni Relations, Zapper, PechaKucha, Innovative Durban and The Maker Space, to name but a few.
In her closing remarks, the Director of the festival and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design, Dr René Smith extended her gratitude to everyone who had been part of making the DigiFest happen. She also highlighted the aims of the DigiFest and its importance. “When we first started Digifest we were very clear about our intentions and what we were trying to achieve. Next year, 2018, we will be part of the ISEA 2018 and now you will realise how big and important this event is. We really believe in what we are doing and that everything is changing around us. We thought hard about the theme of Glitch this year and it is contested and that is what is wonderful about Glitch. All the perfections of ones and zeros, there are imperfections and that is where the beauty lies,” she said.
Highlighting the growth of the festival, Dr Smith added that they first changed the festival to November instead of September. Secondly, they decided to have the festival over a week instead of two days.
“This is really significant and we decided to bring in different partners to make this possible and to show there’s beauty within adversity. We want the communities around us to feel that and we want our students to believe that the future is here. It’s not coming in five years, not in 10 years, it’s here and we have to be ready for it. Students will have to be able to compete in the global world. So, this is what we are trying to do, to provide that platform to students to interact with international and locally renowned artists and designers,” she said.
For more information on the programmes and events, go to http://digifest.dut.ac.za/programme
Pictured: Larisa Yu LEI, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Thandwa Mthembu, Co-Dean of the DUT CI, Mr Frank Lin Wu and Katerina Shiqin LIAO, at the opening night.
Waheeda Peters
