Make a difference

INVEST IN A UNIQUE ORGANISATION

Jabu Mtheku at +27-33-2344893(T/F)
jabu@caversham.org.za

SUCCESS OF CAVERSHAM LEGACY
Evidence of this success and legacy can been seen in the life of Gabi Nkosi who came to us as a young student and today has featured in the top 100 artist in SA and contributed to countless lives. Here is her story.

Gabisile Nkosi
In 2001 while I was a student at Durban University of Technology, I was invited to participate in an International residential fellowship at the Caversham Centre. I knew very little about the Caversham Centre but it was an experience that changed my life and career. As a young student artist, I considered this to be a real privilege working with 3 senior and experienced artists.

When I arrived at Caversham, Malcolm Christian showed me my room and I expressed how beautiful this was, that it looked like a hotel. When asked why, I shared that this was the first time to have a room on my own as back home I share a bedroom with 5 sisters and their young children, a total of 12. This memory of my family provided me with the inspiration for my print entitled 'In my bedroom'.

The theme for the Fellowship was Baggage and we spent much time talking about this and how our own lives related to this theme. Afterwards I thought about my own work and how art could change one's life. The bonds formed during this time continue to this day and have resulted in exhibiting and workshop partnerships for me locally and abroad.

During that year I was invited to return to Caversham on three other occasions. Each time I learnt something new through different experiences. My art was also undergoing change as it shifted toward greater confidence and expression of my own experiences.

In 2002 Malcolm Christian invited me to join the Caversham Centre as its first training programme manager and community co-coordinator. One day over a cup of tea he asked me what I would have been doing if not at Caversham. I told of my passion for working with children and shared that whilst still at school, I began working with a community project in Durban run by Liz Palmer and called Artworks Trust . The workshops focussed on recycling waste materials as a medium for self-expression for children from my own disadvantaged background. Liz Palmer included my work in an exhibition in England where it was seen by Ros and Alan Share who became great friends and helped finance my studies at DUT. Malcolm then suggested that I continue to build this workshop vision in my new Caversham surrounding by establishing links with our neighbouring community of Lidgetton.

From these small simple beginnings I learnt that art and life's experiences were intertwined and when combined with the power of a person's passion and vision it can transform one's own and other's lives. The 'cup of tea' has resulted over the past five years in the growth and development of Ulwazi , the first of the Caversham CreACTive™ Centre network.

Last year we ran Vision-sharing Fellowships with groups of four individuals who have the potential to inspire their community. Another three CreACTive™ Centres has been established. One in Rorke's Drift and Mtubatuba.

These Caversham CreACTive™ Centres began very much the same way as I started Ulwazi. Just as much as it inspired me, we can now inspire others. Our vision is to have a network of these Centres across the country.

We chose the word CreACTive™ to describe that these are places which combine positive attitude and creative action - building self-belief alongside skills to enable people to express ourselves.

I continue to grow and be inspired by Caversham Centre. Through working with women and children in our communities; with professional artists, writers and educators and having opportunities to exhibit my own work I know that I am a proud part of a living legacy.

Contact us for details on how to become a friend
Jabu Mtheku at +27-33-2344893(T/F) - jabu@caversham.org.za