Umhlaba Wami Gallery Exhibit

Friday was the big bang, the grand ending to the Umhlaba Wami project I started a few months ago... And it was great! You can see some of their work in the slideshow below:

I hired a taxi bus and we went to Ingqwangele High School to pick up the 10 students who had been participating in my twice-a-week workshops for the last two months. It was so cute to see them standing there-- they had all "dressed up" as much as you can when you wear a school uniform. The girls had their nice earrings in and their hair freshly braided, the boys followed with fresh haircuts.You could tell they wore their best uniform. Nomcebo even decided to wear glasses because she thought it would look cute in pictures.... she doesn't wear glasses. And she couldn't even see out of them!

We hopped in the taxi, the kids sang the whole way and cheered once they left the dirt roads of their community to the paved city streets. We arrived at the Natal Museum, one of 7 national museums in South Africa. We followed the arrows on the floor from the door around the giant elephants and the fish tank into a room where the kids just started jumping up and down, screaming... for about five minutes. "Bhuka, bhuka! [Look, look!]" they shouted as they pointed to the photographer profiles on the wall, "Mina!!! [Me!!!]." What they had just walked into was a gallery of their photos, put up for public display. They ran their hands from one wall to another, touching nearly every photo and reading everything that was up there. They saw their "artist statements," their photography enlarged and strung along the wall [clothesline-style... I was trying to bring a bit of the community into the museum], and their quotes and poems on the things we had discussed [life-goals, AIDS, community, culture, personal stories, etc.].

I truly felt selfish. This day was for them-- I spent all week running back and forth to the museum, setting up this exhibit and preparing for their day. I wanted them to enjoy it, to feel special, to know that they were important. But in the end, I fear I had more fun than they did. When they walked into that room and their jaws dropped in shock, the ends of their lips curling up in giant grins, I was the happiest person alive. To see the joy that brought them-- that was the best feeling ever. I was so, so happy... I cannot even describe the depth of that feeling.

Stephen Coan, a senior writer for the Natal Witness [most famous newspaper in the province], came with his photographer to do a write-up on the event and interview some of the kids. [There was actually a press release in two newspapers the day before the market the event.] After the kids had some time to see the exhibit on their own, others started coming in to admire their work. There was a blackboard wall where people could chalk in their comments and accolades. After I took the kids back to Thandanani for a pizza party and when I asked each one what they thought I got answers such as "I'm impressed with our work. With what we did." and "I'm proud of myself." and "The newspaper came-- I am going to be famous!" I am so, so so proud of these kids.

When writing their "artist statement," they had to mention what they had learned in the workshops. I was happy to see that all aspects of what I was trying to teach were represented; of course most of them talked about photography, but there were also answers such as "I learned how to set goals for my life," "I know my role in my community now," "I have learned about other cultures," and "My English has improved." Most importantly, with the large majority of these students being orphans it was gratifying to hear many of them speak of being able to better cope with their past through being able to tell their stories and express themselves through photography. These kids have progressed so much in just two short months and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to make personal connections with each and every one of them.

I just came back from Snathing where I met up with the kids to give them books with their photos-- each child had his or her own book which captured the story they told through the photos and something they could also use as a starter portfolio if they ever see photography as a career. They were overjoyed with these professional-looking gifts, compliments of RapidStudio in Johannesburg! I took pictures of them oohing and ahhing and the books, but unfortunately they are not uploaded yet. Keep checking my picasa album as I am sure it will appear in there sometime soon!
The newspaper article is due for the front page in the Arts section tomorrow.