Woza Moya supports local creative artists
The concept behind the Woza Moya Artist’s Wall and Artist’s Cards is to create and showcase work for artists who have been hard hit by Covid-19.
EVERY month since the Covid-19 lockdown, the proactive and innovative Woza Moya ‘creative entrepreneurship project’, based in Hillcrest has honoured talented visual artists.
This has been in efforts to help build their profiles, showcase their work and remind the public of the incredible art-makers active in the project.
ALSO READ: Woza Moya launches blooming beautiful exhibit
Each month a different artist is paid to paint a 1.2m x 1.2m wall panel which is displayed on the wall outside the Woza Moya, Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT) shop. Woza Moya is an arts and craft-focused economic empowerment project of HACT.
About the artist
Upper Highway resident, Ande Magoso is the 10th artist, and his work will be featured for the month of March.
In his chosen painting, uZandisiwe (acrylic on brown paper), with the use of mixed media including; charcoal, soft pastels and acrylic paint, Magoso blends animal characteristics (of goat and sheep since typically, goats are used in Zulu rituals whereas sheep are often used in Xhosa rituals) with human figures.
The reason behind this is that he feels that in a way, he has to continue balancing his Xhosa cultural background with his Zulu cultural background.
ALSO READ: Picture perfect: Woza Moya supports local artists
The 24-year-old was born in Kokstad, moved to uMzimkhulu and at the age of six he moved to KwaNgcolosi, just outside Hillcrest.
He has been producing art since 2017 which is the same year he earned his certificate in visual arts in 2020 at The BAT Centres Visual Art AiR (Artist in Residency) Programme. His work directly relates to his personal history in that it explores the idea of duality and balance.
“I use my work to reflect on how I have felt the need to balance these dual and opposing elements of my identity and how they have affected my life and made me the person I am today. For instance, having a Zulu father and a Xhosa mother then growing up in a Zulu predominated community, made me feel the need to always remind myself that I am half- Xhosa, in essence balance my use of the Zulu and the Xhosa language,” he said.
“A greeting card is made of the painted wall panel and sold in their shops so that artists can earn an ongoing passive income. This has worked well with artists earning from R200 to R1000 a month from the sale of the cards,” said Woza Moya’s executive director, Paula Thomson.
The painting itself is for sale and people are invited to bid for the painting.
“Bidding starts at R1500 at the start of each month, and will close at the end of the month. The person who has the highest bid gets to purchase the painting.
Woza Moya is the arts and craft-focused economic empowerment project of HACT, and is a proud member of 1000 Hills Community Tourism Organisation.
It is based at HACT premises on 26 Old Main Road in Hillcrest, and is open from Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00 and on Saturdays from 08:00 to 14:00. Contact 031 765 5866 or email wozamoya@hillaids.org.za.
* Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
