DUT's Shamil Balram exhibits at SMAC Gallery


Fine Art's Shamil Balram. 

Leading South African contemporary art gallery, SMAC Gallery, is exhibiting a group exhibition of photographic works and Durban University of Technology’s very own second year fine art student, Shamil Balram was selected to exhibit his work.

The gallery which is based in Cape Town represents established and emerging artists from South Africa, Africa and further afield.

Titled PEER, the exhibition focuses on selected photographers practicing in the African continent. Their work has been produced in a variety of photographic mediums and sizes.

Balram exhibited a body of photographs. His work focuses on question of land ownership in post-Apartheid South Africa and unpacking our surroundings and their complex relationships to history, memory and politics.

“My work conceptually speaks of building a bridge of a diverse culture so we can step into the shoes of each other and experience the pure meaning of life. One of my strong characteristics are my majestic interracial background which allows me to interact with diverse communities and cultures,” said Balram.

Being a student, Balram believes it is imperative to have a voice in society and he is humbled that he could be part of this exhibition.

“I found the exhibition to be very exciting having to communicate with people from different complex understands of Art in relation to their connection to the artworks,” he added.

Through his art, he aims to challenge people’s understanding to their identity and their importance to a society by acknowledging each other’s uniqueness and critically analyse the environmental or governmental structures.


PEER will be on show at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town until 18 November 2017.

-CARLY VAN DER WESTHUIZEN 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fashion’s Khaya Mchunu receives award from DUT Council

Department of Fashion and Textile lecturer, Khaya Mchunu was awarded the Council Award in the engagement category at the Durban University of Technology’s Staff Awards held at Steve Biko Campus. Mchunu facilitates a community engagement project where second-year students collaborate with a sewing circle from the Durban CBD called sewing for Africa. The sewing group comes to Brickfield campus and partner with students for design development. The previous projects were done Mchunu himself whilst he was mentored. “The DUT version was a paradigm shift where I switched roles to being the mentor, he said.” The learning objective that he had for the project was to enable his students to see themselves beyond design students but most importantly as active citizens and agents in social change (which is a graduate attribute of the institution) said Mchunu. “A method to exercise such an objective, I imagined, is by breaking the notion of the university structure as an ivory tower...
Read more

Graphic Design Third Year and BTech students showcase their work

Image
Btech student, Karl Ludick. Graphic Design programme recently displayed their 3rd year and Bachelor of Technology (BTech) students’ final exhibition held at City Campus. The third year final exhibition consisted of 13 projects. Namely, DUT Art Gallery rebranding and awareness campaign, gender based 30 second advert, OXX T-shirt design, courier packaging, animated gif and online campaign, Baron Samedi Spiced rum campaign, Poetry Africa poster, editorial spread, IJusi Afrika Typographika, history publication, Durban map, Goldpack packaging, Instagram diary, self-branding and Behance online portfolio . Third year student, Samela Hlophe said, “The approaches on each project differed depending on what the brief required. But I maintained my style throughout, which is use of balanced colour themes and layout.” Hlophe said he learned a lot from DUT and is ready for the field. “I learned about strategy, concept is key, be authentic, hard work beats talent, never compare yours...
Read more

Interior Design holds year-end exhibition and student awards

Image
 Interior Design third year student, Thabiswa Nkonyeni who was named Top Student for 2018. NASIPHI GIGABA  Durban University of Technology’s (DUT) Interior Design students’ year culminated in style as their hard work was rewarded during the programme’s year-end portfolio exhibition which coincided with recognition awards where excelling students were awarded for their hard work. The exhibition which was held at City Campus yesterday, featured works by third year and BTech students who were beaming with joy as attendees marvelled at their offering. Interior Design’s Programme Coordinator and Lecturer, Susan Barrett said the programme is pleased with the end results of the students work, considering the challenges they faced throughout the year. “We are glad the year is over and that it was a fairly successful one despite the interruptions due to protests at the beginning of the year. Overall though, we were very pleased with the end result,” she said. Barre...
Read more