Neil Fraser
June 13, 2003
Two major events this past week reflecting both public and private investment in the city were, firstly, the 'official' announcement on Wednesday by the Gauteng Premier, Mbhazima Shilowa, of the establishment of the R150 million Science Centre in the Electric Workshop in Newtown. I say 'official' because the Electric Workshop has been earmarked for this facility for a number of years - but now it is happening.
The first phase, the Exhibition Centre, will open in December with the entire initiative being completed in 2005. It will include an education centre, career centre and a pre-school centre as well as commercial and other facilities such as restaurants and science shops. Those who have visited science centres overseas will know how exciting they are and what a drawcard they can be.
Then, secondly, on Thursday, it was the opening of the Westcliff's new Ballroom and Conference Centre. What a superb facility this is going to be for the city - beautifully detailed and appointed - as one would expect from the Orient-Express Hotels group - and complementary to what is a quite unique hotel. Two great new assets for the city!
CICI - THE CREATIVE INNER CITY INITIATIVE - An extraordinary non- formal art school.
John Ruskin once said: "Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the other two, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last."
One can undoubtedly substitute the word 'cities' for 'nations' so, as this city strives to greatness, the amount of activity within it in the realm of art should come as no surprise. And yet it does!
A couple of weeks ago I was invited to pay a visit to CICI. The initiative is housed in the old Hebrew School located on the corner of Wolmarans and Claim Streets directly opposite the Great Synagogue.
I had a few minutes spare before my meeting and wandered through this latter building described by Gerhard-Mark van der Waal (From Mining Camp to Metropolis) as "a landmark of the creation of large scale space in the history of local architecture."
It was built during 1912-1914 for the approximately 12 000 Jewish families living in Johannesburg at that time but, sadly, today it is only a landmark symbolising the dramatic changes that have taken place in the city. The Jewish congregation has long since moved out of this and surrounding areas.
The building, empty for many years, is now used by a church group and a community radio station whilst its Smit Street elevation is punctured with fast food outlets. The Hebrew School itself has been unused for some fourteen years.
Together, they exist in an area that is known for criminal activity in the streets no doubt encouraged in part by the deserted buildings and general run-down nature of the area. Now life is slowly returning to the buildings and the resultant increased street activity will hopefully start to impact positively on the crime levels.
The initiators of this innovative project obtained the use of the Hebrew School buildings at a reasonable rental although they had to first undertake some repairs, waterproofing and provision of toilet accommodation. But with these done, the halls and rooms so long silent are now alive with art activities.
The location provides an opportunity to link with other exciting arts initiatives that are centered around Joubert Park. The project's Bie Venter describes the initiative, which only started on this site earlier this year, as a "non-formal art school" which is funded for one year only through the poverty alleviation fund of the Department of Arts Science and Culture (DACST).
The funding provides for six field workers who, apart from teaching, do evaluations and constant monitoring of participant's progress. The approach that has been adopted is classified as 'developmentalist action reflection and mentoring' and facilitates regular assessment of courses and students and adaptation of programmes to fit changing needs. This has also enabled artists who have shown potential as trainers and facilitators to be identified, mentored and ultimately employed to assist with training.
The school accommodates about 200 students at any one time and some 4 to 500 students have already gone through its programmes in the school's short life. There have been numerous post learning successes - one student was selected to participate in the making of a short film screened during Human Rights Day; two others were subsequently accepted at Wits Technikon and RAU respectively where they are further developing the video and photography skills learnt at the school; two artists have been able to enhance their existing jewellery making business - the list goes on.
The programmes are conducted within three monthly cycles so as to regularly introduce new activities - this past quarter has focused on portraiture, sign making both at beginner and advanced levels; creative recycling; sculpture and pottery; training in video documentation and the production of a magazine which provides opportunities for creative writing and management disciplines. There are also embroidery; mosaics; graphic design; furniture manufacture; silk screening, picture framing, papermaking, murals, etc etc.
These course 'labels' do not do justice to the dynamics of the learning process that has been adopted. For instance the participants in the embroidery group, both male and female, after sharing their personal backgrounds with each other, embroidered their own life stories onto pieces of felt which in turn were made into books - craft becoming art!
The portraiture class has been working at a nearby home for the aged documenting the lives of the elderly. The mosaic students produced some of the outstanding work at MetroMall and are currently working on the Faraday project.
The course 'labels' also do not capture the collaborative nature of the programmes which ultimately result in one skill stimulating another, nor does it reflect the activity progression that is achieved.
Possibly the following (abridged) extract from one of their progress reports will place the approach in context. It documents the Performance- Arts - Training approach relative to training workshops that were held in February and March culminating in public performances in April.
The topic of this quarter's performance workshop was "The Good Life". The topic came out of our thinking together about the idea of the artist as agent for change. Without the ability to imagine a better life, we thought, people are left without a clear idea of how to change. By investigating what a good life might be, we thought, we could contribute to the debate.
In February, during the introductory workshops in the Johannesburg Art Gallery, we introduced the question of "the Good Life" and sent participants out to interview people who live in the Inner City around us about their ideas on the topic.
We soon learnt that there was no single recipe for a good life and that there are many very different ideas about the necessary ingredients. Instead of presenting a single vision of the good life, we thought we should perhaps tell a story of different people striving for the three things we found that people strive for; love, power and money.
In March…with playwrights and actors we fashioned the story we would tell. Participants from the signmaking workshop joined us and found ways of contributing to the production - participants of the stage carpentry workshop built the beautiful sets, first building scale models. Sessions where discussions and acting exercises were used in conjunction to help crystallize various issues. Facilitators rounded off the week with storytelling exercises and creative drawings. In the next three weeks, scenes were created that would flesh the story out as well as costumes, masks and props that would be needed.
Music workshops were held during which the music used in the performance was developed and rehearsed. In the last week, final touches to scenes, costumes and props were undertaken - followed by dress rehearsals and finally performances. Then feedback and brainstorming ideas for the following workshop.
Impact - for the residents and park public it has been the exposure to bold, colourful and entertaining performances that are also thought provoking. For the participants, it has been the development of skills and confidence in areas of performance and set building that will lead to their future development in self sustainable activities."
Aside from the performing arts some of the more pragmatic outputs include:
- Video: short documentaries
- Creative Recycling: recycling bins
- Exposure workshops: artists' maps of Berea, Joubert Park and Hillbrow
- Embroidery: aprons, cushion covers, panels and artists books
- Beadworks: AIDS ribbons, ear-rings and necklaces
- Pottery: various pots and vessels
But it is the identification and unleashing of human potential that might otherwise be forever frustrated through lack of access to the recognised formal channels that makes this initiative stand out. The initiative resonates with innovation, inspiration and enthusiasm - the skills taught in a relatively short time through dedicated and competent trainers have uncovered latent talent and huge enthusiasm.
This is just a wonderful inner city initiative that deserves recognition for the amazing developmental effect it is having on so many lives and for further financial support to enable it to continue and grow.
