20 NRF SARChI Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture The NRF SARChI Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture continued to strengthen its national and international profile in 2025 through a dynamic programme of research, postgraduate supervision, publication, public engagement and scholarly collaboration. The Chair celebrated several notable staff achievements during the year. Usha Seejarim joined the programme as a Visiting Professor of Practice following the completion of her MBA at the Henley Business School, while Prof Brenda Schmahmann received institutional recognition as the top postgraduate supervisor in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture and was awarded a prestigious Ampersand Fellowship for a month-long research residency in New York in 2026. Irene Bronner was appointed Associate Editor of Public Art Dialogue, and Visiting Associate Professor Shanade Barnabas established the Dutch chapter of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies. In addition, SARChI PhD graduate Khanya Mthethwa received national recognition through the Mail & Guardian “Women in Arts, Film and Media” award. The Chair maintained a strong postgraduate teaching and supervision profile, with three doctoral and four master’s degrees completed during the year. It also fostered postgraduate development through conferences, seminars and mentoring initiatives. A notable highlight was the conference “Making and Interpreting Art in 2025”, convened by Prof Irene Bronner and postdoctoral fellow Melissa Gerber, which created a supportive platform for Honours and Master’s students from multiple universities to engage critically with emerging research. Research productivity and scholarly impact remained exceptionally strong. Major outputs included the publication of Contemporary Approaches to Commemorative Public Art: Monumental Developments (Routledge), edited by Prof Brenda Schmahmann, featuring contributions from several SARChI and VIADaffiliated scholars. Prof Schmahmann also co-edited a special issue of Critical Arts on “Indigeneity and Visual Sovereignty: Heritage, Rendition, Vision”, alongside special issues of de arte and Public Art Dialogue developed from the 2024 conference “Creating a Disturbance: Interventions to Historical Monuments and Statues”. Staff and associates contributed numerous additional articles, book chapters and conference presentations both locally and internationally, reinforcing the Chair’s role as a leading centre for scholarship in art history, public art and visual culture. The Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture hosts two research centres: the SARChI Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture, led by Prof Brenda Schmahmann, and Visual Identities in Art & Design (VIAD), directed by Prof Leora Farber. Both centres contribute significantly to postgraduate supervision, research dissemination and international collaboration. FADA Research Centres VIAD ‘To be queer and African’ talk
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