“A VUT international visual arts webinar challenged the marginalisation of African knowledge and called on artists and scholars to reclaim their authority.”
25 August 2026 | Story by: Ntebogeleng Digasu | Picture:
3 minutes read time.
Who decides what counts as knowledge, whose stories are recognised and why must African scholarship so often receive approval from elsewhere before it is taken seriously?
These searching questions shaped an international webinar hosted by the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) on 21 August 2026, where artists, academics, educators, researchers and students from across Southern Africa confronted the continuing marginalisation of African knowledge and creative practice.
Convened through the Visual Arts Forum for Educators in Southern Africa, the webinar moved beyond a conventional discussion of art and aesthetics. It became a spirited examination of power, identity and the authority to interpret African experiences.
One of the strongest interventions came from Dr Andrew Mulenga of Zambia Open Window University for the Creative Arts (OWUCA), who described the conversation as both intellectually rigorous and deeply urgent.
For Dr Mulenga, visual art is not merely something to be admired. It can disrupt inherited assumptions, resist dominant ways of seeing and create space for Africans to define themselves on their own terms. He described it as “a vital site of epistemic refusal”.
At the heart of his contribution was an uncomfortable reality confronting many African artists and scholars: work produced on the continent is frequently overlooked until it is recognised by institutions, curators or academics in the Global North.
“Knowledge produced locally remains invisible until it is validated elsewhere,” he said.
The statement cut to the centre of the webinar’s decolonial conversation. It challenged participants to consider whether African institutions are doing enough to recognise, preserve and champion knowledge generated within their own communities.
The discussion also highlighted the ability of visual art to recover lived experiences, preserve cultural memory and challenge narratives that have historically spoken about Africa without allowing Africans to speak for themselves.
Opening the webinar, Mr Prajesh Bhikha of VUT’s International Office said internationalisation should amount to more than institutional visibility abroad. It should foster partnerships that strengthen research, expand opportunities for staff and students and respond to real challenges facing the continent.
“It is about building meaningful regional partnerships that advance collective growth, strengthen research capacity, facilitate the mobility of scholars and students, and contribute to solving real-life challenges,” he said.
He added that collaboration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was particularly important to building a more connected and confident regional academic community. This ambition supports VUT Strategy 2033 Plus and its emphasis on research, innovation, internationalisation and societal impact.
Ms Matshepo Thibudi of VUT guided the discussion, creating space for panellists and participants to engage openly with questions of identity, self-determination and decolonial thought.
Closing the webinar, Professor Johanna van Staden, Head of the Department of Visual Arts and Design at VUT, said the panellists had exceeded expectations through their rich contributions.
“I hope the stimulating arguments and creative possibilities explored today continue to inform, inspire and enrich artistic practices within our academic spaces,” she said.
The webinar ended, but its central challenge remains: African artists and scholars cannot continue waiting for distant institutions to confirm the value of what the continent already knows.
Through platforms such as the Visual Arts Forum for Educators in Southern Africa, VUT is helping to build a regional intellectual community in which African voices do more than participate. They question, create, define and lead.
Before publication, verify Mr Prajesh Bhikha’s exact job title and whether the institution should be written as “Zambia Open Window University for the Creative Arts”. The original wording of both affiliations is unclear.