Over five days, a team of adult artists and a group of 9-12 year old ones came together to study and research the Hillbrow Tower (also known locally as the Telkom Tower and many other names besides - as we soon found out / made up). The central question was around whether the Tower needs redesigning, and, if so, what we could collectively imagine as its next or future evolution. You can read more about how the project is being born after 20 Years of Lobbying over here in The Past.
The process was designed to encourage a temporary collective of artists to become on-foot researchers, collecting thoughts and feelings on the current status of the Tower in the minds and lives of the people living nearest to it. As well as documenting this particular part of the process, we held at the back of our minds, the idea that the project should try to set in place ways in which feedback and input could continue to gather beyond the five days.
Produced by ARTATWORK, funded by the Johannesburg Development Agency and the Central Johannesburg Partnership.
Hosted by the Hillbrow Theatre Project.
Led by artist, Lindiwe Matshikiza with a team of artists and children learning the arts in Hillbrow including João Orecchia, Lavendhri Arumugam, Nhlanhla Mngadi, Tumelo Nkoele, Kabelo Ndlovu, Anele Ndzimande, Bongani Mangena and Sisanda Noxolo Mthombeni.
We are all here except for Nhlanhla Mngadi who is on the other side of the camera.
Hillbrow Theatre Project (HTP)
For ten years, the Hillbrow Theatre Project has been providing performing arts programmes for children and young people living and/or schooling in Hillbrow and other parts of the inner city. They produce several productions and events a year, host the popular Inner City High Schools Drama Festival, and collaborate with other artists on a project basis. The children who took part in the workshop were selected from the cast of The Donkey Child, another process-driven project recently staged at the Theatre, in partnership with writer-director Lindiwe Matshikiza. The HTP provided a base for the project, as well as technical and creative support. In this picture please meet Gerard Bester and Phana Dube who are both heroes at the Hillbrow Theatre Project.
Lindiwe Matshikiza – Donkey Child Projects
A frequent collaborator with the Hillbrow Theatre Project, Lindiwe selected and coordinated the group of artists and children involved in the workshop. She is a Johannesburg-based artist working mainly in theatre and film. In collaboration with the team, Lindiwe designed the workbooks that each participant used to record the week’s findings and explorations. Here she is on João's shoulders, getting tall enough to hide the light coming through a door.
Artist and self taught non-musician, João, has been making music and experimenting with sound for many years. He is involved in alternative sound practice in Johannesburg, curating events that engage artists, musicians and the public in a collaborative, experimental spatial relationship with the city. João also teaches sound design for film at Wits University. For this project, he constructed a homemade microphone and connected it to a cassette tape recorder for the purpose of conducting interviews. He also documented the process through digital sound recordings. Here he is showing us all how he made the mic.
Johannesburg-based curator, currently working as the artistic director of Ithuba Arts Fund in Braamfontein, JHB. Lavendhri has much experience in public art practice and visual literacy. In addition to the camera documenting that she did for the project, she taught the group how to make a camera obscura, and led the discussion on interiors, exteriors, vision and perception thereafter.
Musician, photographer and artist, Nhlanhla frequently documents live performances in music, theatre, dance and fashion. He works regularly as a photo researcher, and assists and coordinates workshops in film and visual literacy. For the project, Nhlanhla led the creation of the group’s cardboard models of the Tower as drawn from memory and/or imagination. He filmed the project in its entirety.
Evidently, there was a lot of cross over in the disciplines and interests of the artists, and the group generally worked together on all aspects, taking the lead in various activities and assisting in others.
Tumelo Nkoele (12 years old)
Tumelo is gifted in performance of all kinds. She kept a journal of each day’s events during the workshop, and created several field recordings documenting the trajectories between homes and base.
Sisanda Noxolo Mthombeni (12 years old)
No-nonsense performer and marimba player. Sisanda took us on a journey to her home where we were able to interview many members of her family. She provided many observations on the Tower as she passes under it on her everyday journey to and from school.
Kabelo Ndlovu (12 years old)
Taking the lead with the tape recorder from the first day, Kabelo interviewed many people during the workshop, including his own father. He coined the term ‘Ostrich Legs’ as an alternative name for the Tower.
Bongani Mangena (12 years old)
Enigmatic voice and performing artist, Bongani provided much on-the-fly entertainment through sound recordings. His comical observations provided much insight to the findings of the project.
Anele Ndzimande (9 years old)
The youngest member of the group and the first whose home we visited during the workshop. Anele jumped, skipped and danced her way through the week. In between, she imparted anecdotal asides and observations about her school.
Lesley Perkes. Determined to find like-minded artists with an interest in public and experimental art projects, Lesley identified some artists who were already working in Hillbrow. She liased between the funders and the artists, and of course the enigmatic Tower itself.
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