History of the Javett Art Centre
The Javett Art Centre arose out of many years of planning. Philanthropist, art collector and retired businessman, Michael Javett, approached the late art expert Stephan Welz to establish a cutting-edge museum for African arts. Together with Dr Conrad Strauss they entered negotiations with the University of Pretoria to establish an institution which would show case African art and promote research and education in this field. An independent trust was established, and the trustees approached Christopher Till, best known for his role as the executive director of the Apartheid Museum, to head up this Centre. Construction started in the second half of 2016 and the first exhibition opened on Heritage Day, September 2019.
The buildings
The Javett complex was designed by Pretoria-based architect Pieter Mathews from Mathews and Associates Architects.
On the south University campus is the main gallery and the 70m-high vault-like hexagonal concrete building that houses the 2 gold collections. These are linked to what was intended to be an open museum square which was to include a restaurant and outdoor exhibition space. Sadly, there have been no takers to run the restaurant, so it remains an empty space. Linking the main gallery to the northern Hatfield campus across Lynnwood Road, is a bridge which houses a gallery and a pedestrian concourse, symbolically and physically linking “town and gown”.
On either side of the bridge on the main Hatfield campus are the buildings housing the Architecture and Visual Arts department so making a very coherent arts and culture cluster completed by a new student gallery on the main campus.
The core of the Javett Foundation includes 4 collections:
- Javett Foundation’s collection of 20th century South African art
- Barbier-Mueller Gold of Africa collection owned by AngloGold Ashanti and comprises golden artefacts and jewelry from West Africa dating back to the 1800s
- Mapungubwe Gold, an archaeological collection
- South 32 (previously the Gencor/Billiton) collection on loan for 10 years
Gold Collections
The two gold collections are on permanent display. The Barbier-Mueller Collection was collected by Swiss industrialist Josef Müller and later housed in the Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva – the museum started by his son-in-law Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller, also an avid collector. AngloAshanti Gold bought the collection which was initially located in the Gold of Africa Museum in Martin Melck House in Capetown. After the Gold Museum closed the collection found a new home at the Javett-UP. The some 350 artefacts originate mainly from the West African countries of Ghana, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire.
Javett-UP’s second gold collection, the Mapungubwe Gold Collection, consists of 14th-century artefacts, including the iconic golden rhino, found at Mapungubwe Hill during the 1930s. The hexagonal building housing the gold collections was conceived by the architects as an abstract interpretation of the Mapungubwe Hill.
The Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Entrance is R150 for adults, R50 for children, R70 for pensioners and free for all South African university students (with a valid student card). Guided tours are available, but must be booked at least 48 hours in advance. South Campus, 23 Lynnwood Road, Hatfield. Details: 012-420-3960, javettup.art. The easiest way to get here from Joburg is to take the Gautrain to Hatfield station, on weekdays you can catch the Gautrain bus from the station direct to the museum.