The Rhodes University Drama Department will launch the Reza De Wet Bursary on 12 and 13 April to celebrate her contribution to the department and the arts in general.
De Wet was an internationally recognised playwright and a member of the Department’s teaching and research staff for twenty years.
The bursary, which will be launched at the Rhodes Theatre, will fund Performing Arts students at post-graduate level. To unveil this initiative during the annual Rhodes graduation period will help publicise it to the alumni and the wider network of potential donors that come to Grahamstown during this period.
The intention is to provide students without funds with the opportunity to study theatre at the department, said Andrew Buckland, Head of the Drama Department.
Although a set criterion for eligibility to funding has not yet been established, Buckland said that the fund will likely be directed towards local students who are in financial need. These students will have to demonstrate “academic and creative promise”, he said
The resources to fund the arts and performances are becoming extremely limited in South Africa, he said. It is becoming harder to secure bursaries and scholarships from external donors for arts degrees.
“From a corporate point of view, arts are not seen as investments with a solid return, which I think is a mistake,” Buckland said.
It made sense for the department to have its own fundraising initiatives for post-graduate students in need of funding.
When Reza De Wet died, “there was a great response to somehow recognise her presence in the department and honour her memory”, he said. The Department then decided to name a bursary fund after her.
It is the Department’s hope that naming the bursary after De Wet will “provide inspiration to the student and draw attention to Reza as an extraordinary role model within the discipline,” added Buckland. The name will also draw the attention of the international community that enjoyed her work over the years and keep her memory and legacy alive.
In future the department will have one major student productions where a percentage of the money made will go into the fund. This will help students to contribute towards funding other students
The launch will be accompanied by two performances, The Dogs Must Be Crazy presented by Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company and The Ugly Noo Noo by Professor Andrew Buckland. The proceeds from these performances will go into the bursary fund.
Story by Azwihangwisi Mufamadi
Image supplied by Ubom!