MTN and North West University Gallery cement partnership with arts initiative

The MTN SA Foundation has given a R250 000 cash injection to the North West University Gallery (NWU), which will enable the institution to continue to run the award-winning Art Safari outreach programme and other educational initiatives in Potchefstroom.

This investment is part of MTN SA Foundation's support for the development of the arts in South Africa. The NWU Gallery will utilise some of the funding to develop a unique interactive digital platform for younger visitors to access the educational art supplement, which was printed onto post cards last year, and to run a giveaway competition from their exhibition stand at the prestigious FNB Joburg Art Fair taking place between 7 and 10 September 2017 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

NWU has been running an Art Safari fair with the support of the MTN SA Foundation since 2016. This initiative introduces children and teenagers to the arts and nurtures their appreciation for the visual arts specifically. Participants are taken to various art exhibitions on the NWU Potchefstroom campus where trained assistants provide guided tours.

The MTN SA Foundation and NWU have a long standing relationship that dates back to 2016, when both institutions hosted a collaborative art exhibition, dubbed Figuratively Speaking, that displayed some of the most valuable and sought-after artworks.

Says Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi, General Manager of the MTN SA Foundation: "As we join the country-wide celebration of Heritage Month, we are pleased to once again partner with the North West University Gallery to showcase and celebrate the beauty and diversity of our beautiful country through visual arts. At the MTN SA Foundation, we share the ethos espoused by the North West University Gallery of debunking the mystique around art and making it more accessible to broader society.

"We are looking forward to sharing with the world the valuable pieces which we and the university have in our possession, and hope that through this exhibition, we will foster not only an appreciation of the visual arts, but that we will rekindle our pride and appreciation of this beautiful country we all call home."