“Assemblage & Collage” was a ten-day workshop held in partnership with the University of the Free State (UFS). It took place during the course of Willem Boshoff’s residency, who transformed the Centre’s Project Space into a site of making and learning, producing a new work titled GREY to foreground processes of assemblage, collage, and related methodologies. The collaboration with UFS provided space and resources for a group of students to join Boshoff while he works, sharing his process and thoughts, while being inspired and guided through the production of their own work, experimenting with sculputural modes of making through the combination of wood, ceramics, and found objects.

Located at NIROX, students were encouraged to examine the environment within and around NIROX, from the Sculpture Park itself to the surrounding nature reserve and broader context that compositely makes up the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. The goal was for students to explore how different materials might relate to one another and the site; to learn technical skills about working with these materials; and to develop an understanding of how processes of assemblage and collage can lead to different or newfound associations, treating the site as a living archive from which to draw inspiration. Through the cut, splice, and merger of different materials, this workshop foregrounded the provisional nature of meaning, placing emphasis on our ability to see the world with fresh eyes.

At the same time, it stimulated production, with the exhibition of completed works around NIROX being used as a site for assesment by the university, with students being given an opportunity to then engage and explain their work to their peers and facilitators.