2024 Arts Fest

TUT

Arts Festival

2025

The Faculty of Arts and Design at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) is all set for its seventh TUT Arts Festival on the Arts Campus from 11 – 13 September 2025.

This year’s Festival will be presented in partnership with the City of Tshwane and Tshwane FM. Building on the theme of ARTIVISM, the Festival will focus on AGENCY ­– What actions or interventions are we taking to create a creative consciousness in this challenging time to address social challenges creatively and to cultivate responsible citizenship and social awareness?

The Festival is part of the Faculty of Arts and Design’s dynamic, cutting-edge teaching and learning curricula. It creates an ideal platform for students to put their knowledge into practice through this experiential learning opportunity, shaping future-ready graduates.

By pooling resources and engaging with industry stakeholders, the Faculty celebrates and showcases the remarkable talent of its students, staff, alumni and community. Visitors will gain an insight into how the Faculty makes knowledge work and the difference that community engagement can make.

We will showcase the best work from the Hello Community Arts Festival, Gifted and Rooted in Purpose and other community engagement projects.

The Festival will encompass all facets of the arts, from the design and fine art disciplines to all the performing arts. Exhibitions, demonstrations, performances, master classes and open classes will form part of the exciting line-up.

This is the ideal opportunity for prospective students interested in the creative industries to come and experience what is on offer and get first-hand information to assist them with their future career choices.

Come support new, up-and-coming young creatives, invest in original artwork, scout new talent, or just take a break and enjoy, network and get inspired.

Visit www.tut.ac.za or www.tutfadshowcase.ac.za for updates, or email artsinfo@tut.ac.za for more information or to make your school bookings.

Tickets are available from Webtickets at www.webtickets.co.za or your nearest PicknPay store.

The Lineup

Day 1 - 11 September

 

The countdown is ON!
Day 1 of the TUT Arts Festival 2025 kicks off at 9:00 with a world of creativity waiting to be explored.

Come celebrate art in all its forms at the TUT Arts Campus. Tickets on Webtickets or at Pick n Pay.

Pictured here are Technical Theatre students Thapelo Kobo, Charmaine Tshimola, Hope Ngwenya and Kamogelo Mahlangu who are ready to welcome you from 9:00 – 16:00! 📷 Gerrit Bester


Over the next three days at the TUT Arts Festival, keep an eye out for Khathutshelo Mahamba and Didintle Morudu, our sharp-eyed photographers weaving the festival through their lenses.
 
They’ll be capturing the moments and the energy that make this week unforgettable.
 
📷 Gerrit Bester


For the first time, the Department of Fine and Studio Arts invites you to wander through a sculpture garden at the TUT Arts Festival.
 
Come see what our young creatives are crafting – form, texture and imagination blooming in unexpected landscapes.
 
Francois Pietersen, a Master’s student in Fine Arts, coordinated the project.
 
📷Gerrit Bester

 
Seven years ago, Prof Nalini Moodley, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design, envisioned a TUT Arts Festival that would be part of the Faculty of Arts and Design’s dynamic, cutting-edge teaching and learning curricula.
Since then, it has grown into one of the Tshwane University of Technology’s premier marketing events, providing an ideal platform for students to put their knowledge into practice through experiential learning and to become future-ready graduates.
 
By pooling resources and engaging with industry stakeholders, the Faculty celebrates and showcases the remarkable talent of its students, staff, alumni and community each Spring.
Visitors gain insight into how the Faculty makes knowledge work and the difference that community engagement can make.
 
Join Prof Moodley and her dedicated team and become part of this one-of-a-kind event, running from 11 to 13 September, culminating in a concert in her honour.
In the photo, she poses with staff and students.
 
📷Didintle Morudu

 
As part of the Department of Visual Communication’s Student Film Fest, second-year Motion Picture Production students screened video essays and short films they produced as collaborative student projects with peers from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom on the topic Third Cinema Today. This collaboration was part of an official COIL project between the two universities.
The films were showcased today at the TUT Arts Festival. Three representatives from the UK High Commission (pictured here with Faculty of Arts and Design staff) joined us this morning for the opening and screening of our COIL films. They are Sarah Meisch Lionetto (Head of Arts, Culture & Sports Diplomacy, UK High Commission), Vhutshilo Makananise (Programme Officer, UK High Commission) and Kgothatso Tshabangu (Head of Chevening, UK High Commission).
 
TUT students produced these films as part of their subject African Film and Criticism while it formed part of the Global Cinemas course of the University of Southampton.
COIL stands for Collaborative Online International Learning initiatives, which involve connecting students and faculty from different countries for collaborative projects and exchanges using digital tools. These universities use COIL to internationalise their curriculum, provide authentic global learning experiences and foster intercultural communication among students without requiring physical travel.
The Department has been involved with COIL projects since 2014.
 
Though these students live in different countries, they manage to work on the same project together and the result is these video essays/short films.
 
📷Didintle Morudu
 
Hungry for style, first-year Fashion Design students owned the green runway this morning, launching the TUT Arts Festival with a dazzling inaugural fashion show.
 
📹Gerrit Bester
 
Today, we welcomed bright minds from Hoërskool Akasia, Mondeor Secondary School, Benoni High School, East Rand School of the Arts, TFS Institute of Learning, Crawford International Pretoria and SA College Private School to the TUT Arts Festival. Learners explored the expansive world of creativity and innovation offered by the Faculty of Arts and Design.
 
A vibrant showcase of talent, curiosity and possibilities for tomorrow’s artists.
 
The Motion Picture Production programme was excited to welcome alumni Murena Emmanuel Netshitangani (left) and Mbuso Gamede (right) back on the Arts Campus today for the TUT Arts Festival.
 
Netshitangani’s film, The Duality, won Best African Film Award at the World Film Festival Cannes this year, while Gamede’s film, Mfe2 dilo-dilo, was selected for this year’s Durban International Film Festival.
 
Here they are pictured with Dr Phyllis Dannhauser, part-time lecturer.
 
📷Didintle Morudu

 

Choreographed by Dr Nicola Haskins and performed by Dance students, Melting is a thought-provoking dance theatre work staged at the TUT Arts Festival today.

It traces the human cost of ecological collapse through the metaphor of polar ice caps disintegrating. Drawing on the fluidity and fragility of melting ice, bodies shift, fracture and dissolve, echoing the rhythms of a planet in crisis.

📹Gerrit Bester

Day 2 - 12 September

Day 2 of the TUT Arts Festival is here!
 
From 9:00 – 16:00 discover art in all its forms.
 
Bring your crew and dive into a festival where the art of making knowledge work takes centre stage.
 
Tickets available at Webtickets or Pick n Pay.
 
See you there!
 
📷Gerrit Bester

 
Second-year Fine and Applied Arts students rose to the challenge when they were asked to paint their favourite animé, gaming- or cartoon character in the setting of a well-known landmark.
 
The results are showcased in the Gerard Sekoto Building on the Arts Campus as part of a TUT Arts Festival exhibition. The works are for sale.
 
📷Gerrit Bester

 
Make your way to the Department of Interior Design at the TUT Arts Festival and experience a 3D virtual reality journey, where design technology demonstrations showcase the latest in coursework, exhibitions and a showroom that brings ideas to life.
 
Explore immersive visuals, cutting-edge techniques and student-led showcases that highlight the future of space and style.
 
Talented Commercial Photography alumni from the Department of Visual Communication are hosting the Transcendence photographic exhibition, a collection of striking fashion photography that pushes beyond style to explore imagination, identity and new ways of seeing, at the TUT Arts Festival.
 
Visionary works from the student portfolios of Shaun Tshukudu, Makama Kekana, Andile Nkosi, Lebogang Makgethe and Lungisani Mjaji are on show.
 
📹Cebokuhle Dyonta

 
Experience the next generation of artists across painting, printmaking, sculpture, surface design and fibre arts at the TUT Arts Festival.
 
Make sure to view the remarkable work from our young creatives in these studios, where diverse textures, bold ideas and fresh perspectives converge to shape the future of art.
 
📷Gerrit Bester
 
Step into the Glass Open Studio at the TUT Arts Festival and watch live hot-glass demonstrations that bring creativity to life.
 
We’re proud to be the only tertiary institution in the country offering Glass as a specialisation within our Fine and Applied Arts qualification.
Come for the heat, stay for the artistry and see how our students shape the future of glassmaking.
 
📹Gerrit Bester
 
A vibrant new mural appeared at the Faculty of Arts and Design this week, delivering a clear message: Peace!
 
The artist is Yolo Xulu, an alum of the Department of Fine and Studio Arts, pictured here during the TUT Arts Festival.
Visit Building 8 to see it for yourself.
 
📷 Didintle Morudu
 
Come see how a living map of Mandela’s placenames was transformed into an exhibition that you can feel, navigate, and take home.
 
It’s part of the Named After Nelson (NAN) exhibition, hosted by the Department of Visual Communication at the TUT Arts Festival until tomorrow.
 
📷 Khathutshelo Mahamba and Didintle Morudu
 
Today, the TUT Arts Festival welcomed almost 1 000 eager learners from several schools.
 
They explored the vibrant offerings of the Faculty of Arts and Design, discovering pathways in art and unlocking limitless creative potential.
 
📷 Khathutshelo Mahamba and Didintle Morudu
Mandela 95 Poster Project Collection
 
In May 2013, a group of designers from SA came up with an idea to celebrate Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s life by collecting 95 posters from around the world, honouring his lifelong commitment to humanity.
In 60 days, designers from 70 countries submitted 700 posters.
 
The submissions were curated and 95 exceptional posters that encapsulate Madiba’s values and the essence of the initiative were selected to form part of the Mandela 95 Poster Project Collection.
 
It has since been exhibited in South Africa and 13 other countries around the world.
 
Visitors to the TUT Arts Festival can view this exhibition hosted by the Department of Visual Communication until Saturday.
 
📷 Khathutshelo Mahamba, Didintle Morudu & Gerrit Bester

See. Create. Inspire.

TUT Arts Fest 2025 is Calling You!