Event
Colours of Africa
Adress:
De Oude Pastorij
Essendonk 3
2910 Essen
Belgium
Sponsored by:
Yda Walt
Our special, invited artist for the Colours of Africa event is Yda Walt from South Africa.
Yda started her career in textiles after completing a four-year City and Guilds diploma course in Textile Printing and Dyeing at, what is currently known as, the London Polytechnic. She returned to South Africa where she worked as a succesful freelance designer of textiles for a London-based company. However, the longing to do work that was connected to South Africa grew stronger, so she started designing and printing a small range of fabrics and products with strong, recognisable South African elements. She also started teaching textile printing and dyeing from her home studio in Johannesburg
A few years ago, Yda started experimenting with bigger art for on the wall. This led to her making textile artworks on traditional African blankets. For this, she found an instant audience and the move launched her into working as both an artist and a designer. One of her great successes so far has been "her" ladies. These are life-size images of African women carrying loads on their heads while going about there daily chores. Yda has tried to depict her respect for the women of Africa who usually have the hardest of lives, but still retain their dignity.
Last year, Yda was involved in a very exciting project for the Kaunas Textile Bienale in Lithuania. She collaborated with another textile artist, a composer and a filmmaker ( all from South Africa) to create a site specific installation called "Where is Kovno". The work looked at the Jewish genocide that happened in the town of Kaunas during the Second World War. It had particular relevance to all the artists in the group, as they were all descendents from Jews who had left Lithuania for South Africa at the turn of the 19th century. The project will be exhibiting in South Africa in 2010 and then hopes to travel to Europe and the USA from 2011.
The work for Lithuania tied back to current issues in South Africa as it was about engaging in the difficult conversation about xenophobia and stereotypes, and the horror it can lead to. Xenophobia recently reared its head in urban comminuties in of South Africa towards Africans who had entered the country to escape political turmoil or dire economic conditions in their own countries.
Yda not only works as a full-time artist, but is also involved in teaching at the Imbali Visual Literacy Porject in Kagiso, a township outside Johannesburg. She has trained many students in fabric screenprinting and dyeing. The students enroll in a 3-year training programme, but there is a high drop-out rate as many of them come from poverty-stricken backgrounds. Often, their families can't afford for them to be studying instead of earning money through employment. But some students manage to complete the programme and then continue printing on their own, enabling them to earn a living with the skills they had acquired. The beauty of it is that they don't need a lot of equipment : a screen, a squeegee and access to water helps them put bread on the table.
Yda Walt's art is rooted in her country. Her inspiration comes from that which she sees around her - generally urban or man-made environments - and her engagement in it. We are very happy to have been able to provide you with this opportunity to see her work. Zie voor meer informatie: www.ydawalt.co.za