The first step towards this bold new vision for the site of the now famous 1955 Freedom Charter gathering comes in the form of the Kliptown Artists Impact Competition which has just been launched by The Soweto Hotel & Conference Centre – a Business and Arts South Africa member.

Working with a group of artists from Soweto, known as Soweto Post 77 Media, the hotel’s management is initiating the competition in several phases beginning with an exhibition of the works of 20 local artists. Joining The Soweto Hotel and Soweto Post 77 Media in selecting the first batch of artworks to be exhibited as part of the competition is the management of longstanding Soweto arts training hub, Funda Arts Centre.

The exhibition will run at the hotel from May 23rd and its artworks will be available for sale. It will also form the centerpiece of Celebrating African Art - Expression without Borders, a day of art, music, culture, food and drink that takes place on May 27th in honour of Africa Day – celebrated on May 25th each year to mark the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union).

For Soweto Hotel on Freedom Square manager, Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, the Expression Without Borders exhibition is the first step in a long-term plan to create Kliptown as a visual arts tourist destination.

“Kliptown is the oldest residential area of Soweto – pre-dating the creation of the township itself. Many of us are aware of its special place in our history following the adoption of the Freedom Charter in what is now known as The Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication,” explains Sangweni-Siddo.

“But not many people are aware of the area’s strong historic link to visual arts through artists like Gerald Sekota and many others. That’s what we want to reinforce with the competition and the ongoing Kliptown Artists Impact project.” The second step in the project will be the creation of a visual depiction of five decades in South African History – a collage of art that will be represented across the 10 pillars on the left boundary of the square.

For Sangweni-Siddo using Soweto Hotel on Freedom Square’s resources in the context of Kliptown’s historical importance, in a way that provides opportunities for the area’s artists is paramount.

“I’ve always thought that the arts just don’t get the platform it should and there are many young people who have the desire to study art or somehow enter that world, but lack the platform. We are determined to create that platform in one of the poorest communities in Soweto – igniting the precinct as an arts tourism destination and providing opportunities and even income to local artists.”

The Kliptown Artists Impact project is an extension of The Soweto Hotel & Conference Centre’s integration of the arts into the hotel’s interiors and other initiatives. The hotel celebrates the photographic work of the legendary Alf Khumalo and other artists throughout its rooms. In addition, the hotel and the Kliptown Artists Impact Project is a supporter of the Cardboard Monument project which aims to investigate and reactivate public memory, through a workshop and temporary monument building process in collaboration with Funda Community College (www.cardboardmonument.net)

• To be part of the Celebrating African Art - Expression without Borders at The Soweto Hotel & Conference Centre on 27th May 2011 featuring Dorothy Masuku and Infinity Band contact the hotel on 011 527 7300.
• Businesses interested in sponsorship the proposed visual depiction of five decades in South African History on the square’s pillars can contact the hotel on 011 527 7300.