/ Current Exhibitions

North Gallery

A Season of Feathered Friends
2 to 14 December 2023

“On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree… two turtle doves… three French hens… four calling birds… six geese… seven swans…”

The Association of Arts Pretoria asked several artists to depict birds for a Christmas exhibition. These colourful, exciting and varied paintings and sculptures will be on display as from Saturday 2 December 2023.

The guidelines to the artists were the following - There are various symbolic meanings to birds: the robin represents spring and rebirth, it also symbolises compassion; the white dove is a well-known symbol of peace; a pair of white doves is a common symbol of love and devotion; the owl is known for wisdom, as portrayed in so many children's stories and cartoons; the nightingale represents yearning and pain and in Christianity the longing for heaven; the raven is a metaphor for intelligence, often depicting things we really prefer not to hear; the stork is still associated with the birth of a baby and the swan symbolises transformation (ugly duckling turning into a beautiful swan) and it also represents loyalty and fidelity.

This exhibition is ideally suited for the time of year and also a perfect opportunity to bring along children and expose them to the wonderful world of art.

The Association of Arts Pretoria closes for the Festive Season on Thursday, 14 December 2023 and reopens in the New Year on Tuesday, 16 January 2024.

Main Gallery

Tshwane University of Technology
Faculty of Arts and Design

Department of Fine and Studio Arts & Department of Design Studies
Ceramics and Jewellery Exhibition

25 November to 14 December 2023

From 25 November 2023 the Tshwane University of Technology’s Department of Fine and Studio Arts together with the Jewellery Design and Manufacture Programme will showcase their students’ creations at the Association of Arts Pretoria. The first-mentioned is one of the few university-based visual arts departments in South Africa that offers comprehensive training in ceramics. The latter is currently housed within the Department of Design Studies.

The ceramics module is structured to challenge the traditional perception of ceramics as an inherently craft medium. Lecturers and students push the boundaries of classical ceramics practice by infusing contemporary styles and subjective conceptual narrative into the vessels and sculptural forms they create.

The primary objective of the Jewellery Design & Manufacture Programme is to provide students with a versatile skill set, enabling them to embark on various career paths within the thriving jewellery industry. Here they hone their skills and refine their talents.

This exhibition is a showcase of the students’ 2023 studio practice. Besides celebrating the students’ achievements, the ultimate aim is to expose students to a professional exhibition environment where their artworks can be viewed and appreciated widely.

Attend this exhibition and feast your eyes on the work of budding famous artists.

Gallery Chaton

Willie van Rensburg
Ceramics
11 November to 25 November 2023

Willie van Rensburg is an artist with an intuitive and spontaneous feeling for stylish designs, harmonious colours and elegant lines. He has held many successful solo and group exhibitions countrywide. He has also been commissioned by various major corporate institutions throughout South Africa, and his work can be seen in public and private collections nationally and internationally.

The ceramics on his latest exhibition reflect his playful graphic design background.

He says: The seven elements of art are ‘Line, shape, space, value, form, texture and colour’.

A line is a mark made on a surface.
A shape is a flat area of enclosed space.

Different types of line are:

Straight line
Curved line
Horizontal line
Vertical line
Parallel lines and intersecting lines.

This exhibition explores all the above elements.

The exhibition will be opened by Christelle Webb-Joubert on Saturday, 11 November 2023 at 11:00.