Canvas 2023: A colourful comeback
Eskom, Van Gogh’s skull, and the dangers of radiation were some of the themes which emerged as the annual Canvas, themed “One man’s trash …”, took place in the amphitheatre of the North-West University’s (NWU) Potchefstroom campus on 23-24 February.
The last time the Canvas event could take place without restrictions was just before the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020. It entails artists from residences interpreting the year’s theme in paintings on walls on campus as a tradition dating back several decades.
Marius van Rooyen, the Arts and Culture Officer of the Potchefstroom Student Campus Council and host of the 2023 Canvas, stated that “not finishing the idiom [one’s man’s trash is another man’s treasture] from our side” is integral to this year’s Canvas creations, as it provides the artists with open-ended possibilities and interpretations. This allows the theme to be pursued as the artists see fit, whilst “still [having] the common theme of trash” to tie it all together.
But some of the painters said the SCC Art Council guidelines appear to be limiting artists from controversial interpretations of the theme. “The controversy in art pieces gets taken away by rules and regulations,” one artist said. He stated that art reflects what is going on in life and that students should be able to express their creativity freely.
The painting commenced at 6pm in the amphitheatre and continued non-stop for 12 hours. Dancing group DFB, also known as Dysfunctional Beat, singer duo Piesangskille, and the Serenaders acapella group were part of the line-up until games such as rounds of homemade Noot-vir-Noot (a music competition and show in which participants guessed the song) and guessing what mystery item lay hidden in a box commenced, pitting the residences against one another and hyping up the whole of the amphitheatre.
As midnight struck, the residences started to support the painters with Karlien Ladies Residence starting off with their residence song.
Canvas 2023 was home to “more people than the [previous] years,” said Van Rooyen, adding that many students who have been on campus for many years will be bearing witness to the event for the first time.
Megan Stolze, a private student and canvas painter, is excited to use art as a medium“to just be a part of the vibrant [NWU] student life, because it’s the first time private students can partake [in Canvas].”
“What does [art] not mean,” said Stolze, “it’s everything you see, everything you touch, what you think… art is life.”
Fellow private student and canvas painter Charne Griessel said, “I am excited to see what everyone creates with their creativity this year,” stating how much joy there is to be found in the multitude of interpretations of the “One man’s trash…” theme.
Griessel is eager to ask her fellow artists, “How the hell did you get here?”, when seeing what they came up with.
The night was an “expression of experiences,” according to Wian Maritz, a student who painted for the residences Veritas and Vergeet-My-Nie. “It is not about the picture, but more about the emotion in the painting,” he said. Martiz explained the significance of art as a platform of expression, saying that, “it shows what can’t be seen on the inside.” It was a night of intense painting and Dirk Odendaal, a first-year painter for his residence, described it as “a night of expectations met.”
The winner of Canvas 2023 was chosen the morning after the event based on criteria such as the backstory of the painting and the techniques used but will only be announced at the end of 2023 [during the Varieté Arts Dine], according to Van Rooyen, along with the winner of the campus arts trophy. – By Asanté Goeda, Janlu Fourie, Keletso Baas
