It is with much sadness that we hear that, after 65 years uplifting, mentoring and showcasing local creative talent, The African Art centre has been forced to close its doors. This is a tragic day for Durban and our country as this is one of our finest Art institutions.
I visited the African Art Centre as a school girl in 1987 when it was still housed across from the Workshop, and I was blown away by the incredible creativity that I saw there. Over the years we at Woza Moya have been honoured to partner with the African Art Centre .
Although we were in the same field there was never any rivalry as both our organisational mandates were to assist crafters and artists and help them secure sustainable work; We always saw the African Art Centre as family and they did have a knack of putting things together “just right”.
I will always remember the kind staff who wrapped up your purchases so beautifully in the shop. Their attention to detail was always something we sought to replicate but couldn’t quite match. The African Art Centre put many of our favourite artists on the map.
When The African Art Centre called us up to ask us if we would pick up their mantle and if we would take on their existing customers, artists and crafters it was a bittersweet moment – Covid has been a cruel master and it could have very easily been us calling the African Art Centre!
Nonetheless we have accepted the challenge and we will endeavour to honour the African Art Centre’s legacy and it is not something we take lightly. In any organisation, who matters are the people who have come before, that are the “elephants” who hold the organisational DNA, the rich history and heritage.
We are lucky in that we will be retaining Slie Dube who will still work with African Art Centre Crafters and customers. The crafters will continue to produce the African Art centre patterns and we trust and hope that this will be a smooth transition for everyone.
We will strenuously endeavour to recognise the organisation’s legacy and learn about all the workshops and people that brought these designs to life. We would like to thank Anthea, Jane and the board for entrusting us with something so precious and we hope that Jane , Anthea and Sli guide us and bring some of The African Art Centre DNA to our organisation.
We trust and hope that the merging of these two organisations will lead to a renewed burst of creativity – a renaissance of sorts. I hope that we can incorporate all the best and beautiful things from the African Art Centre into Woza Moya.
Yours Sincerely
Paula Thomson
To create an enabling environment for the sustainable development,promotion and preservation of African arts and crafts with special focus on KwaZulu-Natal.
The African Art Centre contributes to the development, promotion and appreciation of African arts and crafts by:
The African Art Centre has built a reputation for supplying specialised, high quality, hand crafted arts and crafts.
The provides opportunities of self-employment, development and exposure for 300 African Black artists and crafters and every purchase made from the Centre contributes income towards these individuals.
Most of the Centre’s beneficiaries are the sole provider in the family therefore the multiplier effect reflects that the Centre creates sustainable livelihoods for approximately 1500 individuals living in the following localities: Valley of 10,000 Hills, Nchanga, Mayville, Bergville, Chatsworth, Umlazi, KwaMashu, Inanda, Greytown, Nongoma, Hlabisa and Manguzi.
During the past 60 years the Durban African Art Centre Association (African Art Centre) has provided hundred of artists and crafters with opportunities for self-employment and the realization of their talents. Originally established as a programme of the South African Institute of Race Relations in 1959, the African Art Centre has, since 1984, operated as a non-profit organization. It was guided by the late Jo Thorpe, who virtually single-handed, put Durban on the map as an important centre of black artistic development.
Since its inception, the African Art Centre has successfully facilitated and implemented relevant development and mentorship programmes and showcase opportunities for hundreds of artists and crafters from rural and urban KwaZulu-Natal. The Centre is recognized as one of the longest running South African organizations involved in the development and marketing of the works produced by disadvantaged artists and crafters. Through various marketing initiatives, every attempt is made to assist artists and crafters to tap into domestic, provincial, national and international markets. Our shop and gallery now situated in premises at The Phansi Museum at 500 Esther Roberts Road, Glenwood, Durban, allows us to professionally showcase and promote the works of artists and crafters on an on going basis.
The African Art Centre recognizes and addresses:
Over the past 60 years, The African Art Centre has worked with some of the most economically disadvantaged people, who have limited access to capital, technology and resources. We have reached out to the poorest communities, rural men and women, the disabled, the unemployed, youth, HIV/AIDS affected persons and fine artists yearning for recognition.
People living in rural communities, especially women shoulder the burden of poverty and are often deprived of benefitting from participating in long term opportunities and profiting from economic growth. The African Art Centre provides creative art and craft skills development training for groups of female and male crafters from rural KwaZulu Natal. Our programmes aim to encourage and nurture works of creativity, originality and of the highest quality and to assist both young and established crafters to become self-supporting by means of pertinent training, mentorship and development and continued evaluation and communication. Our interventions make long term and sustainable changes in the lives of our beneficiaries, augment crafter capacity, produce new cultural entrepreneurs and improve and strengthen already established cultural entrepreneurs in the region.
Our development programmes increase the sales of craft products in mainstream retail markets (via our shop and gallery, trade fairs and exhibitions) and assist in building the identity of genuine craft from KwaZulu Natal. In addition, our development programmes and initiatives increase consumer awareness of distinct hand-crafted traditions.
The overall objective of our development plan is to provide exceptional sustainable community development support to poor communities and to enable them to undertake sustainable community development action resulting in their improved standard of living. Many women living in KwaZulu Natal face a number of issues including a high poverty rate, low educational qualifications, and inadequate provision of basic needs services. Our development programmes impact on women advancement, provide markets for locally produced goods, provide employment opportunities and stimulate rural economy.
The African Art Centre has built a reputation for supplying specialised, high quality, hand crafted arts and crafts.
The provides opportunities of self-employment, development and exposure for 300 African Black artists and crafters and every purchase made from the Centre contributes income towards these individuals.
Most of the Centre’s beneficiaries are the sole provider in the family therefore the multiplier effect reflects that the Centre creates sustainable livelihoods for approximately 1500 individuals living in the following localities: Valley of 10,000 Hills, Nchanga, Mayville, Bergville, Chatsworth, Umlazi, KwaMashu, Inanda, Greytown, Nongoma, Hlabisa and Manguzi.
