Math-Art competition adds up to creative innovation
PUPILS from 36 high schools across the province got to explore maths through art during a first-of-its-kind Math-Art competition.
It was run by Nelson Mandela University’s Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Centre in Port Elizabeth.
The maths-inspired artwork competition, which closed earlier this month, required its 113 entrants to showcase their drawing skills using inspiration drawn from maths.
The top artworks are on display at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Port Elizabeth until May 25, which is when the winners will be announced.
The centre director, Professor Werner Olivier, said the competition arose from an international education trend called STEAM – the acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths.
“STEAM is a more modern approach, where pupils are encouraged to explore the links between maths and the arts.
“Many entrants linked their creation to nature,” said Olivier.
Masixole Mangwana, who created an abstract aloe using triangles and circles, is from KwaMagxaki High in Port Elizabeth.
Other nature-inspired pieces included a Pythagorean peacock by Fatima-Zahra Hoosain of Nasruddin Islamic School, and an artwork depicting the cycle of life by Sinovuyo Nkola from Strelitzia High in Uitenhage.
Westville Secondary School’s Kyle Jooste chose to show the link between engineering and geometry with an innovative car design.
Participants in three categories – Grade 8 to 9, Grade 10 to 12, and students and teachers of maths – had to explain the maths-art connection in their artworks in a short essay. They could draw their inspiration from their CAPS maths curriculum at school, or from mathematically correct designs found in nature, such as snowflakes, or traditional culture, such as Xhosa beadwork.
“There was so much innovation and creativity in the connections they portrayed,” said Olivier.
“These connections were also indicative of the social consciousness of young people today. Some of the artworks depicted their socio-economic circumstances,” he said.
Winners will receive art supplies and tablets at a prize-giving at the gallery during the centre’s GeoGebra conference, which is promoting STEAM activities to popularise the study of maths.
It is hoped the competition, a pilot this year, will go national next year.