Potchefstroom artist’s mural wins global civil society alliance contest
‘I wanted to create a stencil mural and to portray her in a powerful stance. That’s why I chose a picture of Winnie alone – when she was young, she was powerful enough to stand up for what she believed in.’
A young graphic artist from Potchefstroom has won a creative arts contest hosted by a global human rights organisation for her mural of a South African liberation heroine.
Refilwe Mosiane, 23, wowed judges with her stencilled mural of a triumphant Mama Winnie Madikizela Mandela. She walked away with R6 000 in prize money for winning the visual category of the competition.
The Through Arts and Imagination creative arts contest was hosted by the global civil society alliance, Civicus, in partnership with ASRI and Woke Project.
The contest, which centred on the theme, ‘Re-imagining democracy’, was part of South Africa’s Youth Month celebrations. Young creative artists from across the country submitted entries in three categories: written arts like poetry, short stories and essays; visual arts like drawings, paintings and cartoons and multimedia productions like short films and songs.
‘I hope to enlighten the youth about black female history, to create conversations about black female voices in the art world, literature, etc.,’ said Mosiane of her work entitled, ‘Mosadi o tshwara thipa bogaleng’ (a wife/mother/holds the knife by the blade). She says her entry was inspired by Mandela’s conviction.
‘I wanted to create a stencil mural and to portray her in a powerful stance. That’s why I chose a picture of Winnie alone – when she was young, she was powerful enough to stand up for what she believed in.’
Mosiane said she was donating a portion of her prize money to the Nomzamo Club, a digital and literacy initiative that equips girls and young women to become self-motivated, critical thinkers and thought leaders through literacy and community work.
The written category was won by a trio of 14-year-old writers from Mamelodi in Tshwane.
As members of the Nellmapius Phenomenal Rise Club, which runs classes and workshops for young women, Siphesihle Mnisi, Refilwe Mametja and Pako Thobakgale’s piece, entitled, ‘The Battle of Africa’ was inspired by the struggles of their peers for social justice.
In Youth Month, how do young people, like those of the Nellmapius Phenomenal Rise Club, re-imagine the kind of democracy they would like to enjoy?
