During Lalela’s June/July Holiday Programme, three of Lalela’s programmes made artwork inspired by and in response to the When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting exhibition. A selection of the learners’ artworks will be exhibited in an exhibition titled A Gaze from Within curated by Amy Cornfield, Education Specialist at Zeitz MOCAA’s Centre for Art Education and Firdous Hendricks, Executive Director of Lalela. The opening of A Gaze from Within, on level 0 of the museum, coincides with the closing ceremony of When We See Us on Wednesday, 23 August and will be on show until Sunday, 3 September. Guests attending the closing ceremony will be treated to a special viewing of the exhibition. For more on the When We See Us closing ceremony, click here.
The Exhibition title, A Gaze from Within, comes from the title of the Lalela Holiday Programme Project. Inspired by the paintings in the museum’s landmark exhibition, grade 9 to 12 learners from five high schools (Salt River High, Harold Cressy High, Hout Bay High, Silikamva High and Masiphumelele High) on the Zeitz MOCAA, Hout Bay and Masiphumelele Lalela Programmes, created paintings and photomontages about their lives in response to one of the When We See Us exhibition’s six themes: The Everyday, Joy and Revelry, Repose, Sensuality, Spirituality and Triumph and Emancipation. The workshops encourage learners to explore and celebrate their individual subjectivities by looking inward and around their personal experiences as young bodies of colour in a South African context.
The learners will visit the museum to view their artworks on show in the exhibition.
Zeitz MOCAA’s curatorial and educational programming is generously supported by Gucci and the Mellon Foundation. Seismography of Struggle is furthermore supported by the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS).
- Ashwin Swart, Hout Bay High School. Photo credit: Mark Oppelt
- Lalela Zeitz MOCAA learners show team spirit outside the museum. Photo credit: Amy Cornfield
- Sinesipho Yusi a grade 9 learner from Harold Cressy developing his concept. Photo credit: Simamkele Sitwebile
- Liesl Hartman runs a technical painting workshop. Photo credit: Simamkele Sitwebile
- Emihle Morris, Silikamva High. Photo credit: Mark Oppelt
- Lalela learners visiting ‘When We See Us’ during the June/July Holiday Programme. Photo credit: Simamkele Sitwebile
- Nokutenda Murwisi, Silikamva High School. Photo credit: Mark Oppelt
- Denzel Hapazari showing his finished artwork. Photo credit: Simamkele Sitwebile
- ‘The Revelation Spiritual Home’ by Harold Cressy High learner, Siyamthanda Charles. Photo credit: Simamkele Sitwebile
- Learners working on their final artworks. Photo credit: Simamkele Sitwebile
- Zeitz MOCAA Programme Facilitator, Simamkele Sitwebile, helps Salt River High learner, Delroy Chazika to conceptualise his artwork. Photo credit: Siyolisi Bani