Swedish experts in motion graphics animation for media, advertising and movies, attended a meet and greet session with the Durban University of Technology (DUT) Faculty of Arts and Design staff and course attendees at City campus, on Monday, 27 November 2023. Postgraduate students and academics from Central University of Technology and UniZulu were also present. This engagement forms part of a week-long engagement around advancing Animation, which is also integrated within the Faculty’s Annual Research Conference programme at Coastlands Hotel, Musgrave.
The Swedish experts in attendance at the meet and greet.
The project is the brainchild of Dr Dianna Moodley, Research Coordinator in the Faculty of Arts and Design at DUT. She is extremely elated about offering students career exposure, entrepreneurial venture and creative portfolio advancement in the Animation industry, media, advertising and movies. Dr Moodley initiated this iterative project through the Short Course Unit (SCU) at DUT. She expressed her excitement upon acquiring funding to enable the Swedish experts, (Solomon Oyelere Lulea-University of Technology, William Jobe; Mikael Andersson and Stefan Tidlund from University West), to facilitate the Masterclass at DUT and anticipates a fruitful collaboration, going forward, adding that this is the ultimate convergence of brilliant creative minds.
Welcoming the international guests to DUT was Professor Runette Kruger, Executive Dean: Faculty of Arts and Design. She relayed that the short course has humble beginnings from 2021 and continued to 2022, running more advanced short courses in Animation. She commented that the Faculty have planned to continue applying for funding to enable this course to grow and develop it into a fully-fledged programme over the next few years, which will put the Faculty and DUT on the map in KwaZulu-Natal.
Barry Lottering, lecturer and Programme Coordinator, Graphic Design, relayed to the guests that at DUT in the Graphic Design programme, they work hard to find and nurture talented young minds, enable self-motivation, open eyes to the details of design and communication, create challenging and varied projects, and lead their students towards developing their own unique style.
“I would like to welcome Solomon, William, Mikael and Stefan from Lulea University of Technology and University West, Sweden, and especially thank you for coming all this way to share your knowledge and experience with us. I know you will enjoy the warmth of Durban and what the Durban University of Technology Faculty of Arts and Design has to offer. I firmly believe, as we work towards the inclusion of Animation in Graphic Design and Visual Communication Arts at DUT, that we will truly stand out from the competition and assist our students towards rich storytelling and engaging visual content. We have a great many stories still to tell and having you here and being part of that story is a privilege and an honour,” he added.
Lottering thanked Dr Dianna Moodley for initiating this conversation, Garreth August for his meticulous logistical administration in making this happen, and Prof Kruger for her leadership in creating an environment that enables this kind of creative progress.
“I would also like to thank our students and staff in Graphic Design for their early adopter attitudes and willingness to jump at this new opportunity,” he said.
Tsholofelo Tshabadira, junior lecturer at the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State, said that the experience at DUT Animation Masterclass has been an eye opener.
“Learning the background of studying in Sweden is quite an experience one would want to indulge in. DUT continues to strive to be on the forefront in excelling through their learning and teaching. It was also great to meet Prof Kruger who expressed gratitude towards future collaborations amongst the present universities. Being part of this Masterclass has been a great honour, as one can reflect on the relevance of an evolving visual communication industry. I look forward to acquiring vast knowledge in Animation and to transfer the knowledge learnt to the CUT community and students,” she said.
The next few days will be infused with discussions pertaining to postgraduate and research collaborations such as joint-degrees, creative research outputs, scholarly publications, exhibitions, conferences, co-supervision, postgraduate examination, staff and postgraduate student exchange programs between DUT, the Swedish universities and all participants of the Masterclass.
Further on in the week, there will be an Annual Research Conference Programme at Coastlands Hotel, Musgrave, where the Swedish will fascinate delegates with an Animation exhibition, after which they will present the graduates of the 2023 DUT Short Course in Animation with their certificates of completion.
Pictured: DUT attendees and the Swedish experts at the welcome meeting.
Waheeda Peters
