One-day workshop: Saturday, 3rd August at host venue, Plumstead High School
Time: 11h00 – 18h00
By Carla Bernardo
Cape Town – Based on recent lessons learned from the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation’s (IJR) June 2013 Youth Camp, the community project, Reconciliation through the Arts, is a one-day workshop where the tools provided by Arts and Culture are used to negotiate issues of race and looking toward reconciliation within our communities.
Based on the IJR’s workshop, Reconciliation through the Arts aims to:
Involve young and emerging leaders in the theme of reconciliation
Connect our common history to the future
Create consciousness in society around the topic of reconciliation as a topic with present relevance
Make reconciliation practical for young people
70 learners from five high schools in Cape Town’s southern suburbs have been selected to participate.
Learners will be randomly assigned to one of five groups in which they will discuss issues of the South African identity (this includes that of foreign nationals living in South Africa) and use the relevant art tool to identify a collective idea for reconciliation in action.
There are five groups: Music and Song, Movement, Writing, Art, and Drama. The groups will be facilitated by a qualified team of educators and specialists:
Music and Song:
Kyle Shepherd
Cape Town-born Kyle Shepherd is the multiple SAMA nominee who is widely regarded as one of the country’s most influential and accomplished Jazz pianists and composers.
“He’s very much grounded in the myriad and compelling sounds of his homeland, but there’s a personal stamp on his art and an awareness of jazz beyond South Africa to it too.” – Peter Hum, International Jazz blogger, Jazzblog.ca
“It’s this ‘Proudly South African’ tradition that audiences can expect to hear…which sees the multi-instrumentalist navigate an impressionistic collage of South African jazz sounds, from slam poetic minimalist re-imaginings of Afrikaans volksliedjies and Muslim calls to prayer, to goema groove deconstructions, tributes to Abdullah Ibrahim, Ngqawana’s philosophy of “Zimology” and more that, as the doyen of South African jazz scribes Gwen Ansell pointed out in Business Day recently: ‘live in the jazz world but are never imprisoned by it’” – Miles Keylock, Mail & Guardian
With an in-depth understanding of the influence music plays in not only the South African context, but internationally too, Shepherd is the perfect choice to guide young learners on the path of reconciliation with the tools provided by Music.
Movement:
Sara B Cohen
Born and bred in Cape Town, on-air personality and producer, Sara B Cohen studied Drama and Journalism at Rhodes University. In addition to her studies, Cohen performed in Hair, Nunsense, Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, A Winter’s Tale, and Into the Woods, to name a few. Having traveled extensively, Cohen is well-equipped to help learners explore diverse South African identities, especially through Movement and Dance with her experience teaching at the Waterfront Theatre School
Writing:
Linda Daniels
Daniels has spent years with the Eyewitness News (EWN) team. She then went on to do a stint overseas in the print industry before returning to EWN and 567 CapeTalk. Daniels produced the Breakfast Show for many years and is now focused on Research and Features Writing for 567 CapeTalk’s Programming department and EWN. She is also contributes to the work done by the Children’s Radio Foundation.
Arts:
Pamela Bernardo
An educator with more than twenty years experience teaching of History, English, and Arts and Culture. Bernardo majored in Art History and has a keen interest in Social history. Her approach to the teaching of all above subjects is intended to be from the perspective of Human Rights and active citizenship. Bernardo would like to see well-rounded young people who are caring, compassionate , and who will protect the dignity of others.
Drama:
Anna Scott
Scott completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Cape Town (UCT), majoring in English and Drama. Thereafter she worked in resource development for the International Oceanic Institute at the University of the Western Cape and then moved on to work in production and casting in the film industry. Heeding the call to move back into academia, specifically education, she went back to UCT to do a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, again majoring in English and Drama, and has been teaching at Plumstead High School ever since. She teaches, English, History and Arts and Culture as well as extra mural drama classes. Anna is passionate about developing new and effective methods of teaching, especially in South Africa, and believes strongly that making use of the Arts in the classroom can be both stimulating and positive for learners of all ages.
Colleen Govender will be the counselor on duty for the duration of the day: Govender obtained a Bachelors in Education and Psychology from the University of Kwazulu Natal. She received her Honours in Psychology from the Cornerstone Institute. Govender spent five years as a Chaplain at the University of Kwazulu Natal and has been a counselor at Plumstead High School for the past five years.
The team is immensely grateful to Norman Henshilwood High School and Principal David Millar for covering the catering costs.