Walking the Peripheries is an exhibition of artwork by grade twelve learners from high schools and art centres in Cape Town, and the culmination of an education project inspired by the retrospective exhibition Shooting Down Babylon by Tracey Rose, currently on display at Zeitz MOCAA until 28 August 2022.
The project commenced with a four-day intensive workshop at the end of March 2022, designed and facilitated by newly qualified art teachers and museum educators. As various creative and interactive workshop activities invited a deeper engagement with Rose’s work, in particular, the Ciao Bella video installation and the accompanying series of photographs, learners experienced a range of reactions including confusion, humour, shock, empathy and indignation.
Tracey Rose confronts social, religious and political dogmas, myths, histories, stereotypes and personal internal struggles through the characters that she embodies in Ciao Bella. Inspired by the unapologetic and confrontational nature of this work and others in the retrospective, the participants responded by making artworks of their own. The artworks were completed over the ensuing six weeks with ongoing guidance by teachers and museum educators.
Inspired by Rose’s own journey as an artist, her identity which is central to her practice and the seemingly chaotic nature of her art-making processes, 19 unique creative voices have emerged questioning their identities as young adults, expressing deeply held personal anxieties and negotiating a world in chaos.
The expected role of an art teacher is to guide learners’ creative process and to encourage enquiry and exploration of mediums and techniques. The seven teachers and mentors involved in this project have also chosen to make artworks as part of this process. Teachers have become learners and the learners have proved themselves to be insightful teachers. The accepted hierarchies and boundaries between learners and educators have been broken down, leading all to walk the peripheries of their own identity.
As a Zeitz MOCAA visitor, you are invited to walk the peripheries with us”¦