Opening 18 june 2013, 6 pm
in collaboration with South African Embassy in Italy Themba Khumalo, Minekulu Ngoyi, Nompumelo Ngoma e Nkosinathi Simelane, young artists from Artist Proof Studio in Johannesburg, show at Centro Luigi Di Sarro to celebrate the South African Youth Day.
It has been 37 years since the Soweto (an acronym for the Southern Western Townships, Johannesburg) uprising, and to commemorate the day, officially called Youth Day, the Embassy of South Africa will celebrate under the theme “YOUTH, DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL COHESION”.
The June 16, 1976 youth fought for freedom and the creation of a democratic state. Today’s youth activism is focused on successfully tackling the challenges of poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, personal development and economic freedom.
It is under this premise that the Embassy of South Africa has collaborated with Artist Proof Studio’s who have sent four highly talented artists: Ms Nompumelelo Ngoma, Messer Themba Khumalo, Nkosinathi Simelane and Minekulu Ngoyi to showcase their skills and talent to an Italian audience.
From 19-22 June, the artists will be painting panels under the aforementioned theme at Isola Tiberina in commemoration for Youth Day. The show will be interactive, meaning that whilst the artists work, the audience will have the opportunity to meet and engage with the artists and discuss what the theme means to them, this will then be captured visually by the artists on their canvas. Ultimately, what is left behind is an illustration that has been captured by South African artists about how people view the youth, democracy and social cohesion in their everyday society. In the same days the APS artists show their works at CENTRO LUIGI DI SARRO.
The Government of South Africa believes in the empowerment of its youth, and having the artists present, in Rome, during youth month (so-called as Youth Day falls on this month), projects like this help expose our youth to a different perception about the world and opens up their minds creatively, which in turn leads to job opportunities.
