No Hesitation is an exhibition by young people inspired by the William Kentridge exhibition Why Should I Hesitate: Putting Drawings To Work.
This exhibition and the accompanying booklet of lesson plans is a collaboration between The Zeitz MOCAA Centre For Art Education (CFAE) AND The Peter Clarke Art Centre (PCAC).
The purpose of this programme was to expose students of varying ages and from a variety of learning contexts in the greater Cape Town area to the work of William Kentridge on his survey exhibition, Why Should I Hesitate: Putting Drawings To Work, and to encourage creative responses to his work through practical art-making activities.
By developing this programme, CFAE and PCAC aimed to:
- foster an understanding of the work of the artist through meaningful visual arts and design activities for young people
- ensure participation of a diverse range of schools and groups from across the greater Cape Town
- provide opportunities for art teachers to engage with the content and themes found in the artist’s work with students of different ages and learning abilities
- give access to schools who would not ordinarily have access to the museum, its exhibitions and collections
- produce a visual art exhibition of children’s works that are direct responses to what they have learnt about the artist, his varied mediums of expression and recurring themes in his work
- produce a Teaching and Learning Resource Material (LTSM) in the form of lesson plans that can be used by teachers in future to inspire further investigation and exploration of the work of Willliam Kentridge.
Specialist art teachers from the PCAC workshopped different lesson ideas together with Zeitz MOCAA CFAE. The lesson ideas were subsequently refined and developed into a series of creative and thoughtful practical art projects that demonstrates the breadth and depth of the engagement with the William Kentridge exhibition.
Sixteen different school groups from the greater Cape Town area were chosen from the PCAC Schools Programme to visit the Zeitz MOCAA, view the artist’s exhibition, and then respond to particular artworks, themes or mediums that they were exposed to.
Teachers from the Art Centre chose different aspects of William Kentridge’s work as a focus and developed a variety of practical art lessons for the students. While some of the students’ artworks were completed in the CFAE classrooms, the majority of artworks were created in timetabled sessions at the PCAC. The Extra-Mural Department and the High School Visual Art and Design Departments of the PCAC also participated in the programme and produced works for this exhibition.
The projects on display demonstrate an energetic investigation and creative exploration of William Kentridge’s artworks by the art teachers who have planned this varied programme of art lessons. The enjoyment and level of engagement with all of the mediums, themes and subject matter inspired by this acclaimed artist are evident in the way in which students have responded to the creative tasks without hesitation.
Participating Schools and Groups
- Athlone High School, Athlone
- Cedar High School, Mitchells Plain
- Dominican School for the Deaf, Wynberg
- Groenvlei High School, Landsdowne
- Groote Schuur High School, Newlands
- ID Mkhize High School, Gugulethu
- Intshinga Primary School, Gugulethu
- Mary Kihn School for the Deaf, Observatory
- Norma Road Primary School, Athlone
- Norman Henshilwood High School, Constantia
- Peter Clarke Art Centre Extra-Mural Department, Newlands
- Peter Clarke FET Visual Art and Design Department, Newlands
- South Peninsula High School, Plumstead
- Tembalethu Special School, Gugulethu
- Wynberg Senior Secondary, Wynberg
- Xolani Primary School, Gugulethu
- Vista Nova High School, Pinelands
- Voortrekker High School, Kenilworth
No Hesitation opened on 20 March 2020 and closes at the end of June 2020*.
*This closing date is subject to change due to the COVID-19 lockdown period