The Stellenbosch Triennale, along with Stellenbosch University, are on a mission to explore the transformative role of art in education thanks to a new initiative that hopes to bridge gaps and foster creative healing:
Stellenbosch, South Africa (05 February 2025) — There are multiple socio-economic barriers that impact South African learners generation after generation. These barriers bleed into psychological and cognitive realms, oftentimes without being addressed, acknowledged or bridged. It’s often argued that the education system must change. However, what’s talked about less is how that system should change. In an effort to journey forward in transformative efforts, the Stellenbosch Triennale and Stellenbosch University have teamed up to discover the positive role of the arts in education whilst exploring the power of creative healing for underserved schools in the area.
A 10-week programme, the Arts-Based Inquiry Initiative, is set to run during the Stellenbosch Triennale, taking place from 19 February to 30 April this year. In these weeks, it aims to address educational challenges through creative methodologies while also aiming to engage education policymakers!
An Arts-Based Approach to Influence Educational Outcomes
“The initiative was developed to pilot an arts-based approach that addresses factors influencing learners’ educational outcomes by integrating principles from both Art Education and Art Therapy,” explains Paseka Blessing Chisale, Lecturer in Life Skills at Stellenbosch University.
“The programme seeks to create a space where arts-based inquiries not only enhance academic performance but also foster creative expression and healing. This healing is framed as the restoration of a learners’s imaginative capacity, an essential component for personal growth and development.”
Adds Andi Norton, Trustee of the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust:
“By integrating arts education with reflective methodologies, the programme seeks to offer learners tools to heal, learn, and thrive. The inclusion of two pilot schools — Kayamandi Secondary School and Stellenzicht Secondary School — was a deliberate decision to maximise the programme’s impact.”
Arts Education Meets Impact
Behind the scenes of the initiative is the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust, a founding platform for art education that has long understood the power of the arts in barrier-breaking.
SOST helped the University to deliver a research-driven initiative that incorporated visual arts, music, dance, and drama.
An important platform for art education since its inception in 2012, SOST knows a thing or two about making an impact through art and opportunities.
As Andi explains:
“The KickstART programme provided an opportunity for over 50 high school learners from vulnerable communities to take art as a schools subject and go on to tertiary studies. We saw these young people succeed because we gave extra support like transport, healthy meals, mentors, tutors, art supplies and career guidance. Eliminating the very real barriers that young people from poorer communities face was a game changer.”
A Rehearsal for Breathing and Creative Healing
A free-to-the-public non-profit and cornerstone of African contemporary art, the Stellenbosch Triennale is the ideal setting for a forward-thinking initiative like the Arts-based Inquiry.
This year’s theme is ‘Bazinzile—a Rehearsal for Breathing’ led by Chief Curator Khanyisile Mbongwa in which play, creativity and the nervous system are all set to be explored amid an impressive line-up of multidisciplinary artists from the continent and beyond it.
“The idea of the programme being a safe, ‘rehearsal’ space for them to explore their creativity, emotions, hopes, and dreams is a powerful one,” shares Andi.
“Some of the most effective ways to address trauma in young people is through breathing, as well as allowing them to let go of what is ‘perfect’ or ‘correct’.”
Art and the Future of Education
For too long, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) have been the focus of the education system.
“Research found that this did not benefit the education system, and Art was Brough back into focus, creating the new acronym STEAM,” explains Andi.
“Exposure to the arts allows the brain to see patterns and creates new neural pathways…We hope that [the learners] will leave after 10 weeks with valuable tools to support them in everyday life.”
With this underpinning, hopes are high that the Arts-Based Inquiry Initiative could set the pace for positive change in more local schools.
As for the Stellenbosch Triennale, the free-to-the-public experience is taking place from 19 February – 30 April 2025 at Oude Libertas, the Woodmill, Rupert Museum and Stellenbosch University Museum.
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