Art and Social Justice School Workshops 2012 Set to Take off!

It is that time of the year again, when Art for Humanity sets out on our adventurous Art and Social Justice school workshops!  Our first stop for the year is at Umbilo Secondary in Wentworth on the 05 May! 

School Banner installed Bonela Secondary 

Ogwini Technical School learners during the 2010 workshop

The Art and Social Justice School workshops was formed in 1998, and are in aim to advocate human rights and social justice issues through art and poetry within schools.  Each school receives a large banner which has artwork and poetry from the various AFH projects such as 'Women for Children, Break the Silence, UDHR and the Dialogue Among Civilizations Print Portfolios.  The workshop then consists of AFH facilitators assisting a group of learners whilst they participate in the workshop by making art and writing poetry which the finally perform to the class at the end.  In the past four years, AFH has hosted numerous workshops through out the KwaZulu-Natal area and the response from educators and learners of the schools have up to date been phenomenal, with many of the schools asking for us to return.  Learners who had lacked confidence took to the stage of the school workshops performing poetry and showing off the artwork they had done.  

AFH shall be hosting a minimum of 13 Art and Social Justice school workshops this year! if you wish for more information on the workshops, please email us at afh@dut.ac.za 

AFH Director Jan Jordaan with learners during a 2010 workshop

Freedom from Discrimination

Freedom from Discrimination:  A right vital to us all! 

A documentary by BBC news, looking back on the "beginning of the end of apartheid"  20 years after Nelson Mandela was released from prison.  

Universal Deceleration of Human Rights International Print Portfolio:

Article 2: Freedom from Discrimination

Yeda Maria Correa De Oliveira "For a Human World" (Brazil

320 x 475mm aquatint 607 x 428mm paper size

Artist statement: Yeda Maria Correa De Oliveira 

Regardless of colour, sex and creed, all people are entitled to a decent life, which is beyond equality in employment, medical care and leisure.
Above economic and social rights, every human being on this earth has the right, to have his / her dignity protected and preserved but that will not be achieved until ethnocentrism and imperialism and sexism are swept off the planet. Until then, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will not be fully understood

Freedom from State or personal Interference

As Freedom Day looms, AFH takes you through the Universal Deceleration of Human Rights International Print Portfolio.  The first image for the week:


Article 30: Freedom from State or personal Interference"

Faiza Galdhari "Irony" (South Africa) 

570 x 255mm linocut 607 x 428mm paper size 

Artist Statement:  

"My visual response to the article was interpreted in terms of a lino-cut. The softness of the lino block was preferred to wood.
This, I felt, lent itself well to the issues which I grappled with in the subject matter, viz. commentary on the rights of women and Muslim women in particular, in relation to the idea of state and personal intervention regarding the bill of rights.
Since this article is very broad in that it deals with non-intervention in any of the other 29 articles, I thought it would be acceptable to comment on the idea of women’s rights from an Islamic perspective, bearing in mind the article concerning freedom of religious beliefs etc.
I have used the idea of the hand, the eye and the barcode, all symbols which are quite universal and useful as means of identification. These symbols highlight their purpose in a world where not only material items but human beings are coded, recorded and quickly categorised or identified. The posture of the hand and the official nature of the symbols was meant to comment on the idea of non-intervention, either personally or through the State.
The fact that I have chosen to use a woman’s hand, complete with wedding rings, reinforces the importance of woman universally and the sanctity of marriage in the Islamic context. I have also used the work as a platform to play on the ironies that exist regarding "freedom" in the present world and the irony surrounding western misconceptions about "oppression" in the Muslim world."

About the UDHR IPP: 
AFH's second portfolio, UDHR IPP (1999) contains artwork from various, talented artists from around the world.  The prints are drawn from a variety of cultural and historical perspectives yet send a universal message of human rights.
For more on the UDHR IPP visit our website

"Banned" used as Mask.

Ela Gandhi with three people sporting the "Banned" masks.  

The Durban based Amnesty International Group held a reading of Liu Xiaobo's poems on Human Rights Day  this year.  
The reading which was a worldwide initiative was held to 'highlight the unjust imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo and the incommunicado status of his wife.' - Coral Vinsen.  


Ela Gandhi granddaughter of Gandhi who attended the event read one of Liu Xiabobo's poems whilst being flanked by  people wearing masks  that had the artwork, "Banned" by Tibetan artist Gonkar Gyatso (right), which is part of Art for Humanity's Universal Declarations of Human Rights (UDHR) Print Portfolio.  


The artwork was done by the exiled artist for the "Right to Freedom of Speech" clause under the Universal Deceleration of Human Rights.  


For more information on the UDHR portfolio, please click HERE 

The Dialogue Among Civilization (DAC) Print Portfolio

The Dialogue Among Civilizations Print Portfolio which focuses on issues such as xenophobia, racism and refugees will be exhibiting at the FADA Gallery in the University of Johannesburg, from the 26 March-27 April 2012.

The exhibition is centered around building and informing the public's knowledge on how to combat affairs such as xenophobia, racism and the influx of refugees that stare South Africa in the face today. In essence, they affect and prevent all South African's from potentially growing into a nation which symbolizes civil rights and unity in diversity.

Exciting Book and Art Fair - 12 Sunday

Untitled by Biljana Jankovic

Are you looking for a Pre-valentines adventure? Or maybe you a book lover? Or interested in the arts? Well, whatever it is, an exciting Book and Art fair is taking place this Sunday (12 Feb) at Balmoral Hotel!

The event, hosted by North Beach Events, begins at 9 am and see's a host of book and art stalls with a line up of programmes including book reviews and poetry recitations.  A poet who shall be performing is AFH's very own Fikile Mthembu (16) who will be reciting works from the Dialogue Among Civilizations project.

AFH shall have a stall at the fair, where atrworks and publications shall be readily available for purchase. Digital copies of artworks from the various portfolio's will be sold at a cost of R700 each.  If interested in purchasing,  please contact us now! afh@dut.ac.za

Come and enjoy a fabulous day out for only R10!

North  Beach  Events
presents a


Book & Art Fair


Sunday 12 February 2012


Entry R10.00 per Person


9am - 5pm 


Balmoral Hotel North Beach
(opp amusement park)


Find Books & Stationery Photography, Art & More on Display


Talk at 2pm by
Edris Khamissa


Activities Include Book Reviews
Story-Time, Creative Writing & Crafts


Event Co-Ordinator Rookaya 031-332-9724


Parking available behind Hotel - in front of Police Station

Head down to NOMA tonight!

Hello Friends,

'an angel of mercy' by Judy Woodborne 

Don't forget to visit the New Orleans Museum of Art tonight where you get to see works from various AFH portfolios!

A special event entitled, "Becoming Artfully AWARE: Linking Local and International Communities through  the Arts," shall see a host of art, poetry and entertainers exhibit their work and talents.  Hillary Wallis, Executive Director of Artfully Aware says, “Our goal is to welcome a cross section of community members under one roof, so we can celebrate our uniqueness as well as what makes us relate to the rest of the world. We want to express why arts and culture are so vitally important, and emphasize their positive impact on society.”

The event shall start at 5:00 pm! We look forward to seeing YOU there.  


For more information, click HERE