![]() “Even though we are in the so-called democracy era, there are spaces that as black people, we don’t go to,” Madlala said. Madlala echoed Nsindane’s sentiment that for students from under-resourced schools, the exhibition was an opportunity to be exposed to art, especially African art. Phindile Madlala served as an arts educator for the exhibition and was responsible for inviting schools to the gallery, including a majority of public schools in the black townships. They learned to work with different media.” We don’t have art galleries around us, and we live far from the city, so the only art gallery they have access to is the one in town. “Most of the learners in grade 10, it was their first time going to an art gallery. “The exhibition opened their minds,” Nsindane said. Taking her students to Muholi’s exhibition in Durban was part of Nsindane’s larger goal to introduce her students to a world of visual arts beyond their circumstances. During apartheid, that was one of the main forms of the undercurrent of resisting.” “We have a very long history of struggle art and resistance art. “Art in South Africa in particular has always had an important role to play in struggle,” Kandan said. Kandan said it is important for students who were born after 1994, in the post-apartheid era, to see this art because it allows them to better understand South Africa’s history. The art represented democracy as well as gender violence, race, the LGBT community and other societal issues, according to Kim Kandan, a KZNSA gallery administrator. Their works included props and materials associated with African culture, including izimbadada, which are Zulu sandals, and afro combs. The local artists commissioned to participate in the Ikhono LaseNatali exhibition used their chosen medium to interpret Muholi’s portraits. “This is about black artists influenced by indigenous art or African art.” “With grade 10, I teach the basic elements of art and principles of design, civilizations in art, and in grade 11, I teach the movement in art,” Nsindane said. When she started teaching at Phakathi Secondary School, there was no arts education past grade 9, so she convinced the principal to develop a program for the upper grades. Nsindane is determined to make a difference in her students’ lives through art. Students, many of them who had never been to an art gallery before, attended an art exhibition at The Kwazulu Natal Society of the Arts in Durban. “History books need to be rewritten to accommodate artists who are practicing or creating in this region,” Muholi wrote in the commissioning statement for the exhibition. Ikhono Lasenatali translates into ‘talent in Natal’ and involved 25 artists from the province of Kwazulu Natal who each interpreted self-portraits from Muholi’s photo book and project, “Somnyama Ngonyama: Hail the Dark Lioness.” Spearheaded by world-renowned South African photographer Zanele Muholi, the exhibition was held in commemoration of the 25th year of democracy in South Africa. ![]() ![]() In June, Nsindane’s grade 10 art students journeyed to the Ikhono LaseNatali art exhibition at The Kwazulu Natal Society of the Arts (KZNSA). They don’t do photography, they don’t have access to cameras.” ![]() They find cardboard and bring it to school to use as a canvas. “The school pays for pastels,” Nsindane said. They take the charcoal from the wood and use it for their art.”įor canvases, the students use recycled cardboard. “They don’t buy charcoal because most of them live in informal settlements, so they cook outside. “They get charcoal from home,” Nsindane said. Those from low-income households in the community may not have had a meal in the morning, and many do not have pencils, let alone a paintbrush. Many students walk up to 45 minutes from their homes to the school. Some students and their families are still recovering from floods that devastated communities in Durban in late April. Durban, South Africa - For the students of Zanele Nsindane, an educator and head of the art department at Phakathi Secondary School in the township of Klaarwater, art offers an escape.
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