Newsletter 3/23: Invitation – Oral History Tea

We at the Irma Stern Museum are always delighted to meet people who have personal stories of how they, or their parents, met Irma Stern. Sometimes these stories give us new insight into Stern as a person; sometimes, they tell us more about the context she lived in, and sometimes we gain additional information about her working methods. In all cases, they help us to gain a fuller appreciation of Irma Stern as a significant artist and inspiring, complex figure.

Given the richness and importance of oral history, we would love to invite everyone who has personally met Stern – or whose parents or family members met Stern – to join us in a project to record and preserve the oral history of Irma Stern’s life and art. We are grateful that Stern scholar Phillippa Duncan is joining the UCT Irma Stern Museum on this project, and she, as well as other Stern researchers, will draw on your tales for their future publications. 

For this project, which we envision to become a living archive, we are planning informal get-togethers during which we will listen to each other’s memories. Tea breaks are, of course, mandatory! The shared moments will be recorded and hosted as a virtual resource (in notes, on camera or in audio – depending on what you are comfortable with). Phillippa is also more than happy to meet privately with those who are camera-shy to ensure that all anecdotes are preserved within the archive. 

Please will you get in touch with Lucinda at Lucinda.cullum@uct.ac.za or 021 650 7244 if you have stories and information you would like to share. The final dates for the get-togethers will be communicated to you once we have a sense of how many people will be part of this exciting and valuable oral history project.

We are already looking forward to hearing your memories of Irma!

With best wishes from the ISM Team

Image: Irma Stern | Magnolias in Earthenware Pot | 1949 | oil on canvas. Reproduced by kind permission: The Tortilis Collection