Situated in the impressive Somerset House near Waterloo Bridge in London, the Courtauld Institute is an international centre for the study of the history of art. It is also home to one of the finest small art museums in the world.
I smiled bravely on Monday as I walked into the vast, wet courtyard under the icy stare of the Bronze Lions. I was there to present a paper at a conference of 124 teachers from developing countries, and the first morning was daunting. A quick walk through the galleries was very reassuring, though, as there were many familiar faces – the friendliest being a rather warm self-portrait of Van Gogh, and the hostess in Manet’s Bar of the Folies-Bergere.
The slew of intelligence presented in the papers by brilliant speakers from around the world was, again, daunting. However, the speaker from Pakistan seemed even more nervous than I and proceeded to giggle throughout her presentation just before lunch, which really put me at ease. We also managed a large glass of rather good New Zealand chardonnay over lunch, and Mrs Harata Hesbana from Pakistan and I were firm friends.
So by the time I was introduced and standing behind the podium, it felt very much like giving a first-year lecture – the only difference being that the audience was actively engaged and enjoyed all the anecdotal commentary that supported my rather image-heavy presentation.
Many questions were asked about the state of education in South Africa. I answered from a personal perspective, but was, sadly, not terribly confident about the state of fine-arts training in our country. The general feeling I expressed was that a liberation change in governments can translate into a loss of support for the more classic fine-arts training at the expense of focusing on job creation.
The Nigerian and Mozambican delegations were very supportive of my argument. My biggest supporter, Mrs Hesbana, cheered loudly and we finished the day well.
Goodbyes were said under the still frozen snarls of the lions until we met again for Tuesday’s session.
- Kevin was presenting a paper on fine arts education at tertiary level in South Africa at a conference organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Apart from being a strategist at Flow Communications, he is a respected artist and academic.
- Read more on Kevin’s London adventures: Bake not Fry and Keeping your feet dry