Artists bring awareness in troubled times

September 11 marked the annual Johan Carinus Art Centre Prizegiving exhibition. The rafters shook as eager learners, prize winners and proud parents thronged into the school. The colourful, creative artworks on show reflect the developing artistic skills of the learners from the feeder schools, Victoria Girls’ High, Graeme College, PJ Olivier, Victoria Primary, Ntsika Secondary, Nombulelo Secondary and Fikizolo Primary.

The guest speaker Dr Maureen de Jager delivered an excellent speech on the relevance of art in troubled times and how artists bring awareness to the issues that are going on around them.

This is actively encouraged at the school and there is evidence of an emerging voice in some of the more senior works of the Visual Arts departments: Sculpture, Printmaking and Painting.

The Textiles and Ceramics Design departments have also produced colourful and well-crafted designs. It is also pleasing to see that the work of the junior learners has retained the freshness and enthusiasm of their age, while at the same time already showing technical skill and an awareness of art terminology.

It was a joyous evening that reflected the hard work of both learners and teachers.