GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The Sobukwe Museum and Learning Centre - a project of the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Trust - located in uMasizakhe, Graaff-Reinet, recently launched an exciting new project, "Izwe Lethu/The Land is Ours," that aims to create a playful, educational environmental installation for children (and adults) in an entry passage of the museum.
A small grant support, received from the Goethe Institute's Global Project for Cultural and Creative Industries from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has provided a lifeline to the cash-strapped museum, enabling the institution to continue its training of local youth and its workshops with children in the area.
Climate change, the protection of our natural resources and the upcycling of waste materials - which intersect with socio-economic issues - will form the design of the installation.
This collaborative project is developed by the museum's Craft-Tech Club makers and guides, some of whom have been in training at the museum for the past two and a half years. Local children and organisations are also collaborating on the production. Thinking, a creative business based in CT, will provide additional technical support.
The museum's flagship Craft-Tech Club (CTC) programme promotes grassroots innovation through co-creation and use of locally relevant technologies. Craft-tech involves the blending of computation (software, hardware, digital fabrication) and crafting (making things with art and recycled materials) in hands-on and minds-on creative projects.
The project is currently in its research phase, consulting and working with children to assess their understanding of environmental issues and to draw on their ideas and creativity.
In the month of July the youth conducted interviews with children to gather information around their knowledge on local environmental issues. These findings were then presented during an advisory workshop facilitated by the Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC).
The purpose of the advisory workshop was to further develop the youth’s understanding of global and local environmental issues, explore possible local, national and global environmental interventions, and assist them in preparing for their upcoming workshops with children.
On Saturday 7 August and Sunday 8 August the youth conducted the first two workshops with children between the ages of 10 and 12, which included an excursion to SANParks, drawing exercises and games. For many of these children this was their first opportunity to visit the park and it proved to be a memorable day for them.
The Sobukwe Museum and Learning Centre adheres to Covid-19 protocols in the implementation of all its projects.
'We bring you the latest Graaff-Reinet, Karoo news'
