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Current
Johannesburg Society of Advocates
Pupil Advocate
2025
Victoria Mxenge Group of Advocates, Johannesburg
Former
Constitutional Court Trust
Curator: Public Engagement
2018–2024 (promoted in 2022)
Constitutional Court, JohannesburgNorth-West University
Public Programmes Coordinator
2017
Potchefstroom, Mahikeng, Vaal
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PhD
Dikgang Moseneke Fellow (2022–2024) and Mellon scholar (2022)
Centre for Rhetoric Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town
2022–current
Also awarded the Sir William Solomons Memorial Scholarship (2023) and a Wilfred Kramer Law Grant (2023).My PhD is focussed on the aesthetic and cultural transformation of South African law and jurisprudence after apartheid through an analysis of the Constitutional Court’s symbolism, including its logo, building architecture, art collection and the notion of ‘justice under a tree’.
LLM
Media law (research dissertation) – cum laude
North-West University (2017–2019)
Awarded by NWU Law: Outstanding Academic Achievement in Masters of Law Research – Cum Laude.My masters degree is focussed on the regulation of the South African print and broadcast media.
LLB
North-West University (2013–2016) -
Law: Environmental law, media law, intellectual property law, constitutional law, law of contract, jurisprudence
Experience: Organisational development and governance, stakeholder engagement and communications, cultural sector and heritage management
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Professional development (selected)
Protea International Curatorial Exchange, John Ellerman Foundation
Visiting scholar to the UK Supreme Court and UK Parliament, London (April 2022)
Research award and selected participantLaw Scholars Works-in-Progress workshop, hosted by the Centre for Law and Society (Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town) at the Bertha Retreat, Western Cape (May 2024)
Selected participantNode Center for Curatorial Studies, Berlin
Theoretical Thinking and Writing in Art (certificate course)
Queer Art and Queer Curating (certificate course)
Publications (selected)
Klyntji: Publishing editor (2014–current)
Klyntji, a registered Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) and Non-Profit Organisation (NPO), publishes an online Afrikaans journal (klyntji.com) and an annual literary zine (Ons Klyntji), focussed on diverse and progressive South African arts & culture.Chapter contribution for TransAfrica: The Languages of Postqueerness
Academic book published by Bloomsbury (2024)Art & Justice: A short monograph series published by the Constitutional Court Trust (2020, 2021, 2023, 2024)
Opinion editorials: Mail&Guardian’s Thought Leader, DG Murray Trust’s The Human Factor, LitNet
Guest lectures and presentations (selected)
Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg
Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
Stellenbosch University Museum
Department of Art History, College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison
School of the Arts, University of Pretoria
North-West University
Conferences (selected)
Argumentation 2023: Performativity in Law conference
Masaryk University, Faculty of Law, Brno, Czech Republic
Presenter
Awarded UCT doctoral travel grantWorld Congress of Constitutional Law 2024
University of Johannesburg, South Africa
PresenterSouth African Museums Association National Conference (2021, 2022)
Presenter
Awarded FitzSimons Award for best paper presented at the SAMA National Conference 2021
Society
Johannesburg Queer Chorus
Member (2022)NWU Gender Benefit Network (university organisation)
Contributing member (2017–2019)NWU Campus Pride (student society)
Member (2016–2017)Black Lawyers Association, Student Chapter NWU Potchefstroom, Branch Executive Committee
Media & Publicity Officer (2016)
Email: francois@lioncachet.com
Francois Lion-Cachet (b. 1994) is a queer lawyer, scholar, editor and curator living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is passionate about the environment, arts and culture, and social justice.
Lion-Cachet is undertaking pupillage at the Johannesburg Bar. Before that and working on the Constitutional Court Art Collection (2018–2024), he specialised in institutional transformation through the arts. He held the Dikgang Moseneke PhD Fellowship at UCT Law between 2022–2024.