Visit Newtown to see gender equality-promoting art
NEWTOWN – Art comes alive at Newtown Junction as artists are commissioned to paint murals to promote gender equality.
Newtown Junction joins the fight to promote gender equality through art.
The Gender Equality Public Awareness Murals were established in 2014 in Johannesburg as part of the drive towards promoting the Commission for Gender Equality’s (CGE) toll-free number against gender discrimination and abuse.
The artwork and messaging aims to attract the public and raise consciousness about gender equality issues, but more importantly, to also inform the public of the commission’s intervention in dealing with the challenges associated with gender inequality in South Africa.
Javu Baloyi, spokesperson for the commission said, “These murals help us to get people’s attention and give them the numbers to report cases which are to be investigated. Some people even contact us directly to find out what we do.”
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In this project, art is used as a means to convey abstract issues related to gender equality by using visually perceptible images on the issue. It is envisaged that the murals will, in future, become a regular feature of all cities, towns, and villages around the country.
The project was undertaken by On the Beat Communications and Newtown Junction Mall in a joint partnership. On The Beat Communications produced the murals which are now part of Johannesburg’s bustling areas and they intend to partner with more big corporates to produce more murals in other parts of the country, in due course.
According to Baloyi, it is an initiative of strategic importance. A critical component of this intervention is to create public artwork throughout South Africa with strong messages that will entice the audience both inside and outside, to look differently at their lives in their local communities.
It is an artistic intervention that offers new insights and perspectives as it works in different ways and formats to start speaking the unspoken around gender equality. Baloyi explained, “We have gotten lots of reports since the murals were painted at the mall, which is good because people previously did not know where to report these cases.”
The aim of the project is to promote integrity and sustainable social awareness.
Check out these socially important works of art, integrated with an important message, at Newtown Junction and around Johannesburg.
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Visit www.citybuzz.co.za for more stories on the local art scene in Joburg.
