Follow @umhlangano_arts on twitter for updates of happenings at the Campus Formerly Known as Hiddingh for details of the student takeover.#umhlangano #undernewmanagement.
The creative arts students of UCT are building a safe space for creative expression during and beyond #feesmustfall called Umhlangano (gathering).
The arts and drama students of the UCT campus currently known as Hiddingh have, since Friday 16th September 2016, shutdown the campus. This is part of a university and nationwide movement to address the need for free decolonised education and an end to financial exclusions. We stand in support of all students suspended, expelled and interdicted nationwide ♯BringBackOurCadres ♯ShackvilleTRC. We have crafted a document outlining our experiences specific to our grievances, demands and solutions in peaceful and creative ways. We arrived on Friday 23 September 2016 to continue this important work, only to find that our discussion space – a space which had been used for sharing, expressing and exposing ourselves – had been locked and chained; preventing us from accessing it. We were then forced to work outside under constant surveillance by undercover private security (white men who refuse to identify themselves) who have been threatening and intimidating some members of our group. We have begun a peaceful transformation which includes art interventions, talks and performances which activate the space in a way that we find more considerate of our needs. This is a way of shifting our campus away from one that continues to be a violent, oppressive and suppressive space for poor, black, womxn, queer, trans and disabled bodies.
This is not a violent or a violating space. It is an inclusive one which we are activating through intervention. We ask that all that join our space respect that.
#bringatent if you want to come live with us.
If you want to contribute message us, and if you want to make performances, interventions, collaborations just come through. Email us at [email protected]