About the Youth Empowerment Art Exhibition in the year of OR Tambo

The department of sport, recreation, arts and culture of the City of Ekurhuleni, together with the department of sport, arts, culture & recreation of Gauteng Province and Make it Happen, an Ekurhuleni-based nongovernmental organisation, will presenting the Youth Empowerment Public Art Exhibitions in The Year of OR Tambo.

This events are planned over three one-day events which started on June 23, and will repeat on October 27, and February 16 2018, starting from 9.30am and running till 4.30pm at the OR Tambo Cultural Precinct in Wattville. The youth engaged in the exhibitions will also have an opportunity to participate in an artistic programme between the exhibitions.

The OR Tambo Narrative Centre is set up to maximise the learning potential and participation of visitors and those invited to attend. On average 100 artworks including crafts and photography are selected for the duration of each exhibition, from work generated by 30 young artists living around Ekurhuleni.

Artworks are selected based on their quality, creativity and powerful visual messages; the exhibitions also, importantly, show art from local people in a local exhibition space. Titles, details and interpretations of the artworks by the participating artists are translated and mounted adjacent to the artworks.

The first Youth Empowerment Public Art Exhibition on June 23 was accompanied by a dialogue in which the youth participated, to discuss and contribute to the importance of the legacy of OR Tambo. Within this, relating to Youth Day, they also discussed the significance and the importance of the day and highlighted some challenges facing the youth of today. These include issues such as HIV, unemployment and substance abuse. It was discussed that, in the spirit of Tambo, young people should find their own solutions to some of the challenges they face. Government speakers contributed to the dialogue, focusing on the National Youth Policy, the African Youth Charter, socioeconomic opportunities through the department of arts and culture and other role-players such as Mzanzi Golden Economy and the National Development Plan.

The theme

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‘Youth Empowerment in The Year of OR Tambo’ has been coined in line with the directive of government, whereby 2017 was declared as the year of OR Tambo, because he would have been 100 years old this year. Ekurhuleni is the area of Gauteng where OR Tambo was born and the plan is to bring this to the fore for young people to know more about this icon.

The OR Tambo Narrative Centre in the OR Tambo Cultural Precinct offers a perfect venue to make young people more aware of the role that Tambo played, explore and discuss his role as a diplomat, negotiator of our Constitution and his role as the founding member of ANCYL in 1944.

The founding members of Make It Happen have been working with young people who are both in and out of school. The organisation runs an active network of youth formations in Ekurhuleni and its surrounds, which includes schools in the region. It has partnered with communities, businesses and the municipality in the area on creative projects. These include projects such as working on the Daveyton Gateway, which it conceptualised and executed.

Make it Happen inspires learners to stay in school and be educated. It is a youth development organisation in the creative industries environment with a specific focus on the visual arts, based in the community of Daveyton, within Ekurhuleni. It has been running for the past five years and has created a platform for young people to express themselves by partnering with community arts centres such as the East Rand School of the Arts and Sibikwa Arts Centre.

The nongovernmental organisation has been a network and advocacy organisation that has created projects that empower young people with jobs and assuming leadership roles. Their major aim, which they have achieved, is to link young people with opportunities. All its aims and objectives are supported by government.