Vibrant tribute to Prof Jay Pather’s transformative artistry

The stage belonged once again to Professor Jay Pather – this time not as performer or director, but as the honoured guest of a moving celebration. Laughter lit up his face as performers transformed the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Leslie Social Building main foyer into a living stage on 21 October.

The lunchtime homage, hosted by the UCT Works of Art Collection (WOAC) committee in collaboration with the Institute for Creative Arts (ICA), honoured Professor Pather’s immense contribution to the university, the arts, and generations of students and collaborators locally and globally. Although he has officially retired, the celebrated choreographer, curator, and scholar remains as creatively restless as ever.

Among performers who brought the upper campus to life were Mud and Fire Parables, Qondiswa James, Chuma Sopotela, Nobonke van Tonder and Sandi Sijake, Lakhani Skosana, Masello Montana with Daniel Gray, and Nelisiwe Xaba – all artists whose works reflect the spirit of experimentation and social transformation that Pather has long championed.

Seated alongside UCT Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Transformation, Student Affairs and Social Responsiveness Professor Elelwani Ramugondo and the dean of Humanities, Professor Shose Kessi, Pather smiled warmly as friends, colleagues, and admirers paid tribute to a life devoted to art as activism.

“Transformation through art, teaching, and imagination”

Welcoming guests, Professor Kessi described Pather’s career as one that has indelibly shaped both the university and the artistic imagination of Cape Town.

“It’s a real joy to celebrate someone whose life’s work has touched countless students, collaborators, and audiences across South Africa and beyond,” said Kessi. “Today’s gathering is about paying homage to a life dedicated to transformation and liberation through art, teaching, performance, and creative vision.”

She reflected on Pather’s decades of leadership at UCT, from steering the WOAC committee during the turbulent #RhodesMustFall years to directing the ICA with courage and vision. Under his guidance, UCT’s art collection and public spaces were transformed to better reflect the university’s diversity and its commitment to social justice.

“Today’s gathering is about paying homage to a life dedicated to transformation and liberation.”

“Jay, your vision has shaped generations of artists and scholars, encouraging them to think critically, act boldly, and imagine new possibilities,” Kessi continued. “Your leadership of the ICA has been transformative and transgressive. And your enduring legacy continues through Professor Nomusa Makhubu’s leadership of the institute.”

Kessi also announced that the celebration coincided with the launch of the ICA Digital Archive project, which will preserve and share the institute’s interdisciplinary legacy since 2008. “This archive is a testament to Jay’s leadership, ensuring that the ICA’s performances, research, and collaborations remain accessible for generations to come.”

“Care as an everyday way of being”

Taking to the podium, ICA director, Professor Makhubu, delivered a heartfelt tribute that moved many in the audience. She spoke not only of Pather’s artistic brilliance but also of his rare and radical empathy.

“It’s not just about watching these performances – it’s about feeling them,” she said. “And to feel them with you, Jay, is an incredible privilege. You embody what many talk about but few practice: care as an everyday way of being.”

Makhubu described Pather’s unique ability to create safe, generative spaces for difficult conversations, recalling his role during the student protests at Hiddingh campus. “Jay enabled spaces for justice-seeking dialogue among people who didn’t always agree, navigating emotionally combustible moments with grace and diplomacy,” she said.

As chair of the WOAC committee, Pather also led a quiet revolution. “Under Jay’s leadership, UCT’s collection began to glow with thought-provoking, representative artworks,” Makhubu said. “We acquired pieces by celebrated contemporary black artists who had long been excluded. The campus walls began to tell new stories.”

Making art public

Beyond campus, Pather’s work as director of the ICA and curator of Infecting the City and the ICA Live Art Festival has reimagined public space itself as a stage. His curation has brought dance, theatre, and performance art into the streets – from St George’s Mall to the Golden Acre – blurring boundaries between artist and audience, art and activism.

“In Jay’s words,” Makhubu said, referencing his book Restless Infections, “these works make room for unpredictable publics, for encounters that are improvised, intimate, and transformative.”

Through these performances, Cape Town has been “enlivened” and “made audible”, she added. “By bringing art into everyday spaces, Jay has made visible the injustices that our city too often normalises. His work reminds us that art is not an escape from reality – it is a way of confronting it.”