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When Soweto students rose up against Bantu education and the system of apartheid, the energy must have been a thrill for all the school children in aiding them with their great mission: to curb Oppression! June 16 is commemorated every year in respect of the youth of 1976 who rigorously fought for the freedom we enjoy today. We hosted a photographic exhibition of the Landmarks of Johannesburg to celebrate this freedom.

The 15th of June 2007 is the eve of the 31st anniversary of this great event. It is early in the morning when I start my journey on the eve of the 16th of June. There is a terrible traffic pile-up on the highway and a certain vibe fills the air. I sit on the taxi thinking back to what this day must have been like for those school children that knew the next day they would be playing a part in a demonstration against a system that was unfair and unjust. I then brought myself forward to today’s time and the struggle that the youth face.

The TAEP facilitators have been on a high in preparation of educating those who are ignorant. In the past four months Lulu and the facilitators have been working in collaboration with the US consulate on a photographic project aimed at children between the ages of 12 and 17 years. The main idea was to instil knowledge in the young ones about the importance of landmarks and the preservation of these landmarks. The facilitators then held a workshop for the learners at Constitutional Hill encouraging the learners through positive messages that include: value, respect, pride and techniques of photography.

The children went to all designated places where landmarks are prominent and took shots of their desired sites. All that was left for them was an exhibition that would excite them as they view their own work. Lulu and I drove to Soweto in Jabavu at 08:30 on the 15th June to hang the student’s works of art on the library walls. The atmosphere in the space that the event was going to take place in was welcoming and I was overwhelmed by the enormity of today for the learners and myself.
We plugged the pictures on simple white frames that fit the photos perfectly. The exhibition was due to start at 14:30 so all pictures had to be ready and set before the guests began to arrive. When the clock struck eleven o’clock the job was done and it looked very good, if I may say so myself.

The TAEP team arrived at the Jabavu Community Centre in the afternoon. Ricky had directed a 10min play about the post-apartheid regime and Nkateko was prepared with camera in hand. Solomon arrived with a guest and the children appreciated his unlimited support. At one of the community halls in the vicinity there was a big Love Life project that was organised to celebrate June 16 on a Friday before the actual day. The TAEP students performed the play with jovial hearts and attentively won the attention of other young fellows. The play was thought provoking and very musical. The beauty of it was that it was rehearsed 2days prior to the exhibition.

At exactly 14:30 the exhibition commenced, this was the moment that all of us had been waiting for. The children of Diepkloof and Brixton were overjoyed. Lulu gave a brief speech about the gathering. A short-film of the workshop had been edited for the event and it documented the pre-planning of the event. At the end of the day, the best portfolios were accredited. Nyiko Maluleke and Angelo Shibambo won themselves R100 each for best portfolio. Innovative photographs were awarded to Zanele Shibambo and Mikateko Baloyi for the prize of R50. Before the crowd dispersed, everyone had snacks and cold drinks. All the youth received sponsored books from the US consulate general and the literature was educative and will prove useful to the learners for a long time.

The project was an eye opener and I personally recommend it for school curriculums as well. On behalf of the inspired TAXI ART EDUCATION PROGRAMME, Thank you to the U.S Consulate for making the event possible, Lulu Venter for here relentless energy and my colleague Nkateko who played his part well and to the rest of the TAEP team for their ongoing support.

Text written by Irene (Maltiple) Mavhutha

Keywords: Arts-and-Culture, la-familia-fantastika, Outreach-TAEP, TAEP