What life has come to these days is, after a gruelling national festival, stage managing, partying, one comes home to an art workshop in a shebeen. What makes one proud is the fact that the workshop takes place in his neighborhood. It doesn’t matter that none of the participants are not from his own neighborhood, one cannot be selfish like that, a communal event, besides Guguletive is only laying the foundation.
On this early Thursday afternoon, two painters and a film-maker namely Dathini Mzayiya, Unathi Sigenu and Kemang Wa Lehulere, assemble to take enthusiastic ghetto on a three day art workshop. The two painters and the film-maker are friends of mine, we are part of an artist collective called Gugulective.
Gugulective is an organization established early 2007. In this short period of time Gugulective has hosted two sucessful exhibitions at the very same shebeen i am currently writing this entry. This is their first workshop.
One might wonder why we host our events in a shebeen, well despite Ta Mlamli giving us a home, we avoid the buearacratic process facilities like community centers require. Here the environment is relaxed, the ghetto youth is relaxed, how can they not its warm blue sky day in the middle of winter, the owner is an open minded businessman who understands the value of art, with his love of business ideas he shows compassion for artists ideas. As a businessman he understands in order to reap rewards one has to lay a solid foundation, just like an artist or athlete has to practise his art or his game. Gugulective’s decision to host their functions at this venue proved to a blessing in this regard. This week’s workshop is a portion of that foundation, just like the two previous exhibitions.
Patients is the pillar that keep organizations like Gugulective strong, the ability to listen to older, wiser business mind like Ta Mlamli keeps them grounded. After having had serious conversations with Ta Mlamli one detects that being grounded is important to him. As artists, knowing the pressures an artists faces as his or her career sprouts, it is important to have someone older to keep you grounded, more importantly he is someone that hails where you hail.
The ghetto youth’s presence in the workshop makes a significant statement about our communities. It provides a platform for their hunger to practise art at the same time it breaks the stereotype that young people in post-apartheid South Africa are waiting for hand-outs. They are evidence of how important it is to do for your self. They should be careful of course, because they could the next pillars of strength in their community.
The word ‘important’ or significant seems to rear its pertinent little head. We live in a time in South Africa when communal endevours are significant, not only because of the ’significant’ statements they make, communal endevours in mean a people coming to terms with their conditions and transforming them for the better. In this globalised world, in this fast technological revolution and evolution, the onus in on individuals and communities to improve their conditions. When individuals and communities take their matters in their own hands in this regard, they are able to determine their own socio-economic concerns, a lesson the capitalist, globalised world does not teach.
So its clear that colloborations such as Gugulecitve and Mlamli’s place are ’significant’.
Text by
Themba Tsotsi
