Show to help school library

Entry includes book donation

EASTERN Cape arts organisation Jo Kinda is on a mission to fill Cowan High School Library with books. To accomplish its mission of stocking the library with inspirational and pupil-friendly books, the organisation will hold a book drive with a live theatre and music performance on Saturday at the ArtEC gallery in Bird Street, Central.

“The main thing is that we will be building the library,” Jo Kinda co-founder Xolisa Ngubelanga said.

Jo Kinda (which refers to “people who endeavour to succeed”) is an educational and production arts organisation that has been promoting arts by educating pupils in schools and creating art productions through music, drama, art and literature since 2014.

“By creating progressive stories that speak to the cultural and spiritual well-being of our audiences, we encourage critical [analysis] from audiences to positively construct and reconstruct the story of their lives . . . they in turn contribute positively to their community by becoming catalysts of social cohesion development,” Ngubelanga said.

The organisation works with high school pupils aged 13 to 19 in Port Elizabeth, as well as in the Eastern Cape town of Pearston.

“We focus on pupils because they are the bridging factor between childhood and adulthood and are thus a necessary focus . . . for the benefit of society at large,” he said.

At the book drive on Saturday, Ngubelanga and fine artist Ludwe Mgolombane will perform their production Carrot on Stick, which interprets the late Thami Mnyele’s art work with the text “The ‘New’ Black Middle Class is a Tool of the White Baas”.

The piece, a fusion of theatre by Ngubelanga with guitar music by Mgolombane, tells the story of a white horse breeder who displays his favourite breed, “NativeKaffiria” and boasts of his acclaimed training manual.

The performance will start at noon on Saturday. Entry costs at least one copy of a book to be donated to the library or a R50 donation in cash. Donations before and after the event can be dropped off at the ArtEC gallery.

“We’re looking for good inspirational books, both fiction and non-fiction, that can open pupils’ minds,” Ngubelanga said.

For more information, contact Ngubelanga on 063-058-4171.