Maboneng-based students tour Joburg

Constitution Hill, City-sightseeing Red Bus Tours and the Ichikowitz Foundation teamed up to allow students from an arts programme to see the city in a whole new way.

Lalela After School Programme students were treated to a day of sightseeing and learning about the history of their country on 1 April.

The programme is a spin-off from the township arts experience initiated in Maboneng in 2014 called Lalela Project.

The Lalela project allowed the pupils to be involved in creating art and later turning their homes in Maboneng into art galleries, inviting friends and family to socialise and discuss the messages behind the art.

The after-school programme assists children from the township in Maboneng to ‘find their calling’ and to learn more about their own artistic talents, as a method of education.

The aim of the day-out was to use heritage, Joburg tourism and art as a tool for education for the young people in the programme.

The students started their day at Park Station with a Red Bus Tour of Joburg, as they’ve never seen it before, and were able to explore interesting sites in the city including the Apartheid Museum before making their way to Constitution Hill in Braamfontein.

They were guided around the heritage site and were able to view an exhibition facilitated by the Ichikowitz Foundation called It’s a fine line.

Learning about the artists who displayed their work in the exhibitions, students were able to learn more about art being a means of expression.

Ruby Ichikowitz of the foundation and Vika Majoka, an artist exhibiting his work as part of It’s a fine line, also formed part of the tour and gave the pupils extra insight into various parts of the city.

Exploring Constitution Hill with a trained tour guide, the students from the programme were able to gain a broader understanding of their history and the road to democracy in a fun, innovative and educational way.

Details: www.constitutionhill.org.za