30 March 2013
On our flight to Jo’burg today I was
fortunate enough to not only have a window seat but an entire aisle to myself
to sprawl out and take a nap. Before I curled up to take the perfect airplane
nap I got to see Cape Town from up high. Now I know Cape Town has a lot of
opportunities to see the city from above but nothing quit like this.
When you see the townships as you
drive by them and when you are working in them you know they are large but
seeing the vast amount of space that they actually take up in Cape Town and the
amount of people that are living in these areas from the air , directly over
them, was nothing in comparison to being there. Even though I have seen the
townships from a far and up close by working in Langa the immense amount of
space that they occupy had not quit hit me until I saw them once again from the
sky.
This made me think about the ways
the townships are portrayed through the artwork that I have seen since I have
been here. Everywhere you see artwork that is for sale there tends to be
pictures of townships and they are always these little houses shown in bright
and beautiful colours. The first time I had seen these paintings I thought they
were beautiful and then you go to the township and you realize the colours come
from the amount of different metals pieced together to put a houses together,
the different colours of paint, and the garbage. It makes you wonder are the
artists drawing what they see; a beautiful array of different colours that they
call home or are they painting this purely to appeal to the tourists?
I must admit I picked up one of
the paintings and thought about buying one but decided I wanted to meet the
artist, so I waited. Now, if I were to buy a picture of the townships I would
want it to be of the persons that make up the townships not of some image that
was created to appeal to tourists but something that actually shows what makes
up the townships.
Some people see the colours of
the townships as the colours of the buildings but what actually makes up the
townships are the colourful personalities of the people that make up the areas
that cover up a huge proportion of Cape Town. The people I have met while here
that live in the townships are some of the most inspiring and honest people I
have ever met and I must say I am extremely thankful to have had to opportunity
to expand my office work outside of Obs and into Langa giving me the chance to
experience something completely new.
Stay tuned for updates from Jo’burg.
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