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18 August 2012

Telkom unveils “Connecting Concepts” exhibition

Telkom, in collaboration with the University of Pretoria’s Visual Arts Department, today unveiled the Connecting Concepts art exhibition that showcases the talents of up-and-coming art students.

Telkom’s Art Collection seeks to promote South African art in collaboration with partners in the arts arena, including individual artists, academics, community-based organisations and industry bodies.

As part of the University of Pretoria’s Visual Arts curriculum for the subject Professional Practice, second and third year students are required to create an artwork with the theme: “Celebrating Telecommunication.”

These young artists were briefed to, in their own unique style, to conceptualise the power of telecommunications to unleash people’s potential.

Telkom provided the canvases for the artworks and also committed to exhibiting the best artworks at Telkom Art Space at the Company’s headquarters in Pretoria. In support of the students and the educational institution, Telkom will also procure selected works.

“Telkom is proud to be a part of developing these students into the world class artists they are all destined to be. This project offers the students the valuable experience of working for a client and introducing them to the corporate world,” said Mr Manelisa Mavuso, Managing Director of Consumer Service and Retail.

He said Telkom’s collaboration with the University of Pretoria’s gave the Company an opportunity to support local artists and to make a further investment in South Africa’s cultural and visual heritage.

The exhibition will display the works of Libby Battson, Ewald Groenewald, Lavonne Müller, Kaitlyn Coss, Minien Hattingh, Gustav Kruger, Leandrè le Roux, Shenaz Mohammed, Nicolas Makamu, Sibusiso Masters, Courtney McHolm, Simone Oranje, Sarah Pretorius, Nicole Reyneke, Michelle Senekal, Barry van der Westhuizen, Nicole van Reenen, Elsabè Viljoen and Warwick Williams.

Telkom is in the process of procuring the works of Libby Battson, Ewald Groenewald, Lavonne Müller, Michelle Senekal, Gustav Kruger, Nicolas Makamu, Sibusiso Masters, Nicole Reyneke, Nicole van Reenen.

“For Telkom this partnership lends itself to our quest of establishing a quality art collection, reflecting the rich development of contemporary art in South Africa, while at the same time supporting local talent,” added Mr Mavuso.

Since Telkom started its art collection in 1992, it has grown to more than 1000 artworks.

The collection includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, tapestries, ceramics, etchings, photography, silk-screens, woodblocks, linocuts, monoprints and lithographies.

Among the best-known artists in Telkom’s collection are Walter Battiss, Bonnie Ntshalintshali, Willem Boshoff, and David Nthubu Koloane, all of whom achieved local and international recognition.

“Telkom is committed to unleashing human potential through connectivity. Similarly, art is a tool to communicate across language, race and cultural barriers. Our investment in the arts is an appreciation of this marriage,” concluded Mr Mavuso.

The exhibition closes on Friday 23 November and can be viewed by appointment.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Pynee Chetty

Senior Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel:+27 12 642 1716

Mobile: +27 81 389 7874

Email: chettpr2@telkom.co.za

 OR

Leigh-Ann Francis

Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel: +27 12 642 1728

Mobile: +27 81 391 4780

Email: francilm@telkom.co.za

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ABOUT TELKOM:

Telkom is a leading communications services provider in South Africa. We had consolidated operating revenue of R16.8 billion and normalised profit after tax of R1, 683 million for the period ended 30 September 2015. Total assets amounted to R41.9 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R23.5 billion as of 30 September 2015. The group generated normalised free cash flow of R1.4 billion for the period ended 30 September 2015.

As of 30 September 2015, we had approximately 3.3 million telephone access lines in service and 1,030,441 ports connected via MSAN access. We offer business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of services and products, including:

  • fixed-line retail voice services using PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines, including ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines, and the sale of subscription based value-added voice services and calling plans;
  • fixed-line customer premises equipment rental and sales services both voice and data needs and these include PABX, Computers, Routers, Modems, Telephone handsets and other ancillary equipment;
  • interconnection services, including terminating and transiting traffic from South African mobile operators, as well as from international operators and transiting traffic from mobile to international destinations;
  • fixed-line data services, including domestic and international data transmission services, such as point-to-point leased lines, ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) services, packet-based services, managed data networking services and internet access and related information technology services;
  • Data Centre Operations includes e-commerce, application service provider, hosting, data storage, e-mail and security services;
  • W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), a 3G next generation network, including fixed voice services, data services and nomadic voice services;
  • mobile communication services, including voice services, data services and handset sales through our mobile navbar-brand called Telkom Mobile;
  •  information and communication services including cloud services, infrastructure services, workspace services, global service integration management and hardware and network equipment sales locally, in seven African countries, the UK and Dubai through Business Connexion Group; and
  • other services including directory services, through Trudon (Pty) Ltd, wireless data services, through Swiftnet (Pty) Ltd.

Convergence is one of our key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for Telkom.  We will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of our mission statement: Seamlessly connecting people to a better life.