My Favourite Artworks by Javett-UP Facilitators

Javett-UP facilitators discuss their favourite works currently on display at the art centre. This is the start of an ongoing series sharing personal views of the artwork on display at Javett-UP.

In his book, Ways of Seeing, English art critic, novelist, painter and author, John Peter Berger wrote, "If we can see the present clearly enough, we shall ask the right questions of the past."

 

He said, “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak. But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.”

For the young facilitators at Javett-UP, the environment in which they spend their days, hosting guided tours, participating in workshops, public programmes and events, gives them the opportunity to interrogate the different artists’ perspectives on display. 

         

Boitumelo Makousu                        Noxolo Waiza

 

In this issue, Boitumelo Makousu and Noxolo Waiza share some of their favourite artworks with us and explain what resonated with them. They reveal their viewpoints within the context of their own upbringings, while trying to gain a better understanding, not only of what inspired a particular piece but also the world in which the artists lived - how it impacted their viewpoints, helped them make statements, impart messages and tell stories through their works. 

 

The artworks discussed below were created by renowned female South African artists and are linked through their portrayals of South African women - revealing their past and their present, leaving the viewer to consider their future. 

Boitumelo Makousu: