Krugersdorp High School feels that there are some things that cannot be taught in a classroom. That is why they decided to take the Grade 12 Visual Art learners to Alexandra for the Maboneng Township Arts Experience.
The Maboneng Township Arts Experience is a public arts initiative that works with homeowners to transform their residences into art galleries.
‘Maboneng’ is a Sesotho word meaning ‘place of light’, a name given to Alexandra by the community when electricity became available to illuminate the area. Previously, the township was referred to as the ‘dark city’.
The Grade 12 learners are currently busy with Visual Culture Studies and this visit is linked to the syllabus currently being taught in Visual Art. The learners had the opportunity to view various works of art in residential homes, meet contemporary artist Tommy Machaba, walk through the streets to view street art and mural designs and take photographs of the surroundings.
The Grade 12s had previously viewed examples of township art produced during the apartheid era. While the examples viewed at Maboneng were of a more contemporary nature, the subject matter of the artworks has remained essentially the same – ordinary, everyday scenes of township life, street vendors, women engaged in domestic chores, and chickens, goats and dogs roaming the streets of Alexandra. The excursion forms an important part of experiential learning.
The learners were stunned by the extreme poverty that still exists in many of our communities and realised how privileged they are. It was also important for them to see the job creation initiatives currently taking place in the Maboneng precinct and how visual arts are being supported by the community of Alexandra.
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