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"On
the street where we live": Exhibition of artworks by children
living on the streets
Kubatana.net
June 30, 2004
  For
many Zimbabweans street children are known to be a bother, all they
do is ask for help and do nothing to fend for themselves. Most people
think all street children are bad and they cannot do anything good
to improve their lives.
"On The
Streets Where We Live" is an exhibition of artworks by 15 children
from the streets of Harare, which opened at the National Gallery
of Zimbabwe in Harare on June 16, 2004. Dr Festo P. Kavishe who
is the UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe, officially opened the
exhibition that commemorates the Day of the African Child.
"On The
Streets Where We Live" is being exhibited alongside the works
of six established artists who include Charles
Kamangwana and photographer Alive Tavaya. The exhibition comprises
paintings of life on the streets in the eyes of the street children.
13 year old Rudo Bonde’s painting entitled "Boy" will
make you empathise with her as you read the caption on the painting
"life in the street is boring".
The children
exhibiting their artworks underwent a series of three workshops
that were conducted by Charles Kamangwana who is an instructor and
education officer with the National Gallery’s Visual Arts Studio.
The workshops and exhibitions where made possible by Streets Ahead
an organisation that looks after the interests and welfare of street
children together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Zimbabwe.
 Kamangwana
who had some of his paintings of street children at this exhibition
said he was very impressed with the artworks of the children and
it shows that they are very talented. Early this year, Kamangwana
conducted painting workshops for children and adults at this year’s
Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA).
This is not
the first time that street children have proved to society that
they are capable of doing something good should they be given the
opportunity. This year Maria Wilson, Executive Director for (HIFA)
teamed up with Streets Ahead and worked with street children to
provide security for cars and did street patrols.
In a statement,
Hazel Parsons, Chairperson of the Board of Streets Ahead said "it
is important for the greater Harare community to recognise that
there are our children, Zimbabwean children, and collectively we
all have a responsibility towards their welfare".
Celia Winter
Irving, Curator of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare said,
"Through Streets Ahead street children draw closer to this
world, how people live in it and what is contains".
According to Streets Ahead there are varied reasons which result
in the children ending up living on the streets. Some of them include
physical and sexual violence at home, hunger often caused by poverty
and being orphaned or abandoned due to HIV/AIDS.
 The
Day of the African Child is commemorated to pay tribute to thousands
of black school children from Soweto in South Africa who where shot
by the apartheid regime on June 16 1976. The children were demanding
a better quality of education and the right to be taught their own
language at school. In honour of those killed and the courage of
those who marched during the protest, the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU) now known as the African Union (AU) declared June 16
as the day to honour these children.
The "On
The Streets Where We Live" exhibition is one of the many programmes
by Streets Ahead that engage street children in educational programmes
that lead to normal lives and at the same time create the way for
a sustainable future and employment.
View
more pictures of the art exhibited
Visit the Kubatana
fact sheet
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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