21 The Chair also sustained an active programme of partnerships, public engagement and intellectual exchange through seminars, exhibitions, conferences and book launches. Collaborative events with VIAD included guest seminars by internationally recognised scholars such as Sergio Rigoletto, Oron Catts, TJ Demos and Anthony Bogues. Other highlights included exhibitions by Christine Dixie, Paul Weinberg and postgraduate students Sadie Swartz and Luyanda Zindela, as well as the annual conference “Snapping to Attention: Vernacular photographs as sources and subject matter for the visual arts”. Prof Schmahmann further contributed to the Chair’s international visibility through invited lectures at the University of the Arts Linz in Austria and Boston University in the United States. Externally funded research activity remained robust. The SARChI Chair received NRF funding of R2.95 million, while Visiting Associate Professor Shanade Barnabas secured additional international funding from the University of Groningen and the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome to support heritage research initiatives and scholarly exchange. Transformation and capacity development remained central priorities. The Chair graduated three Black doctoral candidates in 2025 and continued to support emerging scholars through postgraduate conferences, weekly seminars, writing retreats and mentorship initiatives. Staff members also contributed to broader faculty development through the Academic Advancement Mentorship Programme (AAMP), faculty research support initiatives and writing retreats aimed at strengthening research capacity among staff. The Chair continued to make strategic use of its facilities and resources to support hybrid seminars, conferences and exhibitions, ensuring broader accessibility and ongoing engagement with scholars and the public beyond Johannesburg. Exhibitions staged within the Chair’s gallery spaces further demonstrated its commitment to integrating research, creative practice and postgraduate development. Collectively, the Chair’s activities during 2025 contributed significantly to societal engagement and critical public discourse around memory, monuments, indigeneity and visual sovereignty. Its scholarly and curatorial work aligned strongly with broader goals relating to inclusive societies, social justice and cultural sustainability. Brenda Schmahmann with Monumental Developments: Contemporary Approaches to Commemorative Public Art (London and New York: Routledge, 2025), which she edited. A drawing on cloth by Luyanda Zindela in 20 Crowndale Mews Delegates at ““Snapping to Attention”, a conference hosted by the SARChI chair in South African Art and Visual Culture on 19 – 22 November
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjU1NDYx