Dr Jayne Crawshay-Hall Robertson
Academic Head (OW)
Welcome Address

Bio:

Dr Jayne Crawshay-Hall (b. 1987) is an academic, art historian, curator, and artist who is the Academic Head for The Open Window, a leader in the creative higher education sector of South Africa and internationally, currently with campuses in Stellenbosch and Centurion.

She completed her PhD at the University of Johannesburg under the SARCHI chair in 2019. Crawshay-Hall has extensive experience in academic strategic leadership, academic organisational management and systems establishment, curriculum design, quality assurance, and regulatory management–as well as how these portfolios influence business strategy and organisation economic health. A passion within this role is the mission to guide national knowledge on the potentials of creative career paths, and outline the economic need for creativity thinking across all sectors. She has particular interest in staff growth and development, team dynamic and health, teaching and learning innovation, research and development. She is committed to innovating and establishing strategic business partnerships and opportunities within the private education sector in South Africa.

Crawshay-Hall is currently the Presiding Chair of the Open Window Academic Board and Academic Committee and is a member of OW EXCO. She is also a member of the Open Window University’s (Zambia) research unit, and through this, helped to design and establish a Masters degree programme at OWU. Currently, she contributes as a member of the IMM Graduate School’s Academic Board (South Africa), is a member of the Belgium Campus Academic Board, and a member of the Commerce Edge Academic Advisory Board.

Crawshay-Hall also contributes through a number of external positions on various research and recognition bodies. Besides her work for Open Window, she is also a researcher with particular interests in contextualising and curating (South) African and African Diaspora arts, visual cultures and curatorial praxis. She retains ongoing interests as an artist and curator through NO END Contemporary Art Space, an artist-run contemporary platform in Johannesburg, South Africa which she now co-owns.

Within her own curatorial practice, her focus is on reconceptualising the conventions of producing, installing, exhibiting, and viewing exhibitions. Crawshay-Hall has curated numerous exhibitions, authored scholarly articles, and undertaken artist residencies in Paris (2012) and Berlin (2015).

Dr Jennifer Sheokarah
Lecturer: North-West University
Keynote Speaker

Bio:
Dr Jennifer Sheokarah is a lecturer in the School of Language Education at North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus. Her journey in education began at just six years old when she declared that she wanted to teach—and she has never wanted to do anything else since. She obtained her PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and transitioned from teaching Grade 12 English in both public and private sectors to academia.

Her research focuses on fostering second-language learners’ success in English through humanising teaching strategies, promoting well-being, and developing innovative, anxiety-reducing, and gamified learning experiences. She is also interested in how outdoor learning environments enhance engagement and participation. Passionate about creating meaningful learning experiences, she applies these strategies in higher education, equipping future educators with inclusive, student-centred approaches to teaching.

Beyond academia, Dr Sheokarah is also a children’s author and poet, using storytelling and creative expression to inspire young minds. She has contributed to action research, published on second-language acquisition (with 3 journal articles and 3 book chapters underway for publication throughout this year), and regularly shares her insights at academic conferences.

Allen Laing
Lecturer: Theory (OW)
You are not a brain – Science-backed tools for whole-body learning

Bio:
As a wood sculptor, Allen Laing employs play, fantasy, and performance in the creation of contraptions to solve the problems he encounters in his daily life. After receiving a BA in Fine Art from UP, Laing spent two months in residency at the CIte Internationale des Arts in Paris. Later, during an extended residency at the Nirox Sculpture Park, he began working with wood collected from the natural environment. He has an affinity for wood as a material for artmaking and allows the rich biological and ecological aspects of different tree species to inform his creative process.

He obtained a Master’s Degree in Fine Art from UJ, cum laude, for which he was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal, and has been working in his studio at Dionysus Sculpture Works (spearheaded by Rina Stutzer and Angus Taylor) since 2017. In 2019 he was made a fellow of the Ampersand Foundation in New York City. His sculptures are in the collections of the WITS Art Museum, the Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts, the UFS Art Collection, the William Humphreys Art Gallery, and the Design Biologix Collection.

Robin Keet
Lecturer: Creative Business Studies (OW)
Creativity & Profit: Thriving Without Sacrificing Your Art 

Bio:
Robyn Keet is an experienced creative business strategist and lecturer who is committed to helping creators build financially sustainable careers while preserving their artistic integrity. She serves as the Creative Administration and Creative Business Practice lecturer at Open Window and is the founder of Inner Voice Creative, a consultancy that empowers creators to turn their passions into profits.

Since 2019, Robyn has taught business development for creatives, offering practical industry insights and a growth-oriented approach to her teaching. With over 20 years of experience in the creative economy, she specializes in developing impactful curricula that foster entrepreneurial mindsets among emerging creators. Her innovative teaching methods prioritize real-world applications, utilizing practical frameworks that connect creative expression with financial viability.

Lala Crafford
Head of Department: Fundamentals (OW)
Neurodivergence and Creative Career Paths

Bio:
Lala Crafford, a Pretoria-based artist, holds a BAFA from the University of Pretoria (2011) and a MADA in Interactive Media from the University of Witwatersrand (2017). Her work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including the ABSA Atelier and Sasol New Signatures top 100. During a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, she created an immersive Open Studio installation.

Crafford’s art was showcased at the 2019 Spier Light Art Festival. She has performed live improvised analogue visuals for events such as the 2022 Pendoring Awards, the iMPAC Moving Image Festival’s AV Jam Session, and the Mogale Festival of Poetry. She’s also collaborated with musicians like Vampire 9000, Fulka, and Half-Sister. Her recent solo exhibition, “NoWhere,” was held at Open Window in October 2023.

Since 2013, Crafford has been teaching at Open Window Centurion, where she currently serves as the Head of Department for Fundamentals. She has developed and instructed a wide range of courses from Visual Arts to Creative Development, bringing her extensive artistic and interactive media expertise to her teaching practice.

Morne Venter
Head of Department: Creative Technologies (OW)
Gaming Creativity: Using Roleplaying as a Creative Thinking Mechanic

Bio:
Morné Venter is a creative thinker, artist, and educator currently residing in Pretoria. He completed his Masters degree in Information Design at the University of Pretoria in 2017. Venter is currently the Head of Department for Creative Technologies at Open Window where he has specialised in facilitating learning in Interaction and User Experience Design since 2013. Venter has a deep interest in using workshop design as a learning tool in the classroom and has developed expertise in designing interactive environments that enable teams and students to collaborate effectively toward common goals.

Terry Khan
Lecturer: Creative Computing & Maker Space Technician (OW)
Code, Magic and Decolonisation: Reprogramming the System

Bio:
Terry is a Cape Town-based artist and educator, currently teaching Creative Computing at Open Window, Stellenbosch. They hold an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design (2024) and have exhibited in various group shows in both Cape Town and New York.

Working across a variety of (often experimental) mediums, Terry specialises in digital and physical interactives that challenge perception, prompt reflection, and encourage disruption. They critically explore themes such as technology, politics, power, sex and identity, in playful and unexpected ways.

Adriaan De La Rey
Lecturer: Film & TV / Cinematography (OW)
Drift and Duration: Reclaiming Time Through the Long Take

Bio:
Adriaan De La Rey is an award-winning filmmaker, lecturer, and artist, passionate about exploring philosophical questions and visual poetics in filmmaking. For over ten years, he has made short films, documentaries, and curated programs for festivals including Stellenbosch Woordfees, AVIFF (Cannes), and the Absa KKNK.

His films, such as Raw/Rou, engage deeply with themes of resilience and identity, using the long take to reveal the often overlooked nuances of place and time within South Africa’s rural spaces. This approach is both poetic and theoretically grounded, engaging with time as a living force within the frame.

Currently, he lectures film and television at Open Window Stellenbosch, where he guides students in understanding both the theoretical and technical aspects of film. He encourages students to use film as a medium for personal expression and critical inquiry, helping them find their own voices in a local and global context.

Anneri Kapp
Maker Space Technician (OW)
Making with the MakerSpace: Super Sublimation Station

Bio:
With nearly a decade’s experience in the industry, Anni Kapp is well-versed in the ins-and-outs of printing and signage, including operating a wide variety of print and manufacturing machines and finding the right material for every odd job presented to her. In 2024, Anni joined the team at Open Window Centurion as a MakerSpace technician, where she discovered her love for teaching the magic of “Making” to others – not only the institute’s students, but any curious individual! If she’s not busy tinkering with a machine or pushing it to its limits, you can find her organising and optimising every corner of the MakerSpace, bringing systematic precision to the chaotic creativity of her position.

Gontse Mathabathe
Head of Collection and Research Management (OW)
Host

Bio:
Gontse Mathabathe is a designer, curator, researcher, and marketing strategist with over 13 years of experience in the creative arts sector. She is qualified with a Master’s degree in History of Art (Wits, 2020) and a Bachelors’ degree in Fine Art (Wits, 2016). She also holds a Digital Marketing Certificate (UCT, 2018). 

Mathabathe has extensive experience in marketing and communications in the arts, through her tenures at the National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC); Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA); Wits Art Museum (WAM); University of the Witwatersrand; Mma Hogany Clothing and; Assemblage. Currently, she is the Head of Collections & Research Management, as well as the Curator of NOW Gallery at Open Window.

Dr Roxy Do Rego
Collections & Research Manager (OW)
Host

Bio: