The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has announced UJ Arts & Culture’s “Art Much?” magazine as the recipient of a Bronze Award in the category of Special Constituency Magazines for the CASE Circle of Excellence Awards 2013. “Given that only the first two issues were eligible for adjudication by CASE, a bronze award is an outstanding achievement which we are tremendously proud of,” says UJ Arts Marketing Officer, Precious Maputle. “I would also like point out that ‘Art Much’ is the only arts publication from the African continent which features as a winner in this category alongside Ivy League institutions such as Harvard who placed gold for their Harvard Medicine magazine,” she adds.
CASE is an international association of educational institutions including more than 3,600 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools, and non-profit organizations in 76 countries. The Circle of Excellence Awards is a premier international awards program acknowledging superior accomplishments that have lasting impact, demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and deliver exceptional results.
Launched in 2012, “Art Much?” started out as an idea without a budget: “Aligned to UJ’s vision of an international university of choice, anchored in Africa, dynamically shaping the future, UJ Arts & Culture needed a mechanism for articulating our position as a leading producer, presenter and curator of student and professional arts programmes,” recalls editor of the publication, Ashraf Johaardien. “With this brief and with fresh, bold content in hand, we engaged Elizabeth Bramley and Jaclyn Smith of Aisle B Design Interactive Strategy. What they delivered was an immaculately designed magazine tailored to our desired objective,” he says, noting that the costs of the launch publication were also entirely covered by income generated through advertising and sponsorship.
Commenting on the first two issues, Professor Njabulo Ndebele, said of the publication that it, “captures the essence of the institution it comes from: bold, experimental, energetic, youthful, probing [...] the heartbeat of Johannesburg [and] getting close to its pace.” In addition to providing a platform for UJ Arts & Culture to articulate its planned programme of activities, regular features in the magazine include articles by leading South African and international arts personalities as well as arts news, interviews and reviews.
“Art Much?” has ultimately proved to be an indicator of the growing momentum of the arts at UJ where, under Johaardien’s leadership, the department went on to produce and present no less than 10 visual arts exhibitions, as many classical and jazz concerts, as well as more than 15 full-scale productions during 2012 – an increase of nearly 300% in terms of output in performing arts at UJ compared to previous years.
The first three issues of Art Much? can be viewed online in flip-book format and also are available for download in e-book format free of charge on the UJ Arts & Culture website at www.uj.ac.za/arts. Issue 4 will be available from July 2013 and bookings are open for advertising in Issue 05 (February to June 2014). For more information contact Precious Maputle on 011 559 3058 or e-mail preciousm@uj.ac.za.
congrats to the team
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