NWU Gallery empowers Ikageng youth through Kasi Vibes Exhibition

By Zakumi Mtsweni

Young people from Ikageng, part of a group called Youth Invasion (Y.I.) were granted a platform to showcase their talent at the Kasi Vibes Exhibition which was hosted at the North-West University’s (NWU) Gallery

earlier last month.

This exhibition was hosted by Youth Invasion in collaboration with the NWU gallery and Mgrs_trading and supply, a graphics and photography company; who were also the sponsors of the event.

This event was not only a platform made available by the university to develop students’ perspectives on Ikageng. It was also an attempt to raise awareness of human rights to its external environment by providing Y.I. with this platform enabling upliftment.

Katleho “Pholy The Anthropologist” Mogorosi, founder of Y.I., said: “The NWU gallery gave Youth Invasion a platform where we could showcase our artistic talent. A platform to advance and show members the opportunities available for them; where they can take their artistic skill sets in the future.”

The exhibition focused on Hip-hop as it is a global cultural phenomenon that extends to music, education, art and deejaying. “Its wide reach and how it ascribes to capture the hopes, ambitions, anxieties and frustrations of marginalised youth of Ikageng by using Hip-hop,” added Mogorosi.

“When Pholy approached me about advice regarding his research paper project, which was the Kasi Vibes Exhibition, I told him the gallery was a space he could use as a platform and he knew how to host an exhibition since he is an ad hoc for us. What he pitched was interesting as it is the way I want the gallery to move forward – interacting with the immediate community and showing an ethic of care,” said NWU Gallery curator, Amohelang Mohajane.

Youth Invasion’s exhibition was not only an event aimed at showcasing the talents of the individuals in the group but also for the students that came to the event, giving them the opportunity to exhibit their talents. “Everyone that attended the event, even current students of the NWU, were granted the opportunity to exhibit their art. It was not limited to the people I work with, but an open platform,” said Mogorosi.

“It is a lovely thing that Pholy did for the youth of Ikageng as well as the students,” said Mohajane. There were a lot of challenges, Mogorosi says but the gallery and the sponsors of the event gave him support as a student of the NWU. “Having a collaboration between anthropology and the gallery creating a platform for students that would want to use the space to engage with their audiences through their theses and dissertations is what we want. It does not matter if its art-related, Pholy’s walk was quite a neat example for students and us at the gallery to start collaborations between various departments and I am happy about the collaboration,” said Mohajane.

The gallery is not deemed as an academic space – we try to actually say otherwise. Mohajane explains that individuals and students think that the gallery is not an academic space but through the exhibition held by a student they could show otherwise as collaborations between students and the gallery are great for them.

“Transport was organised to get people to and from the gallery to Ikageng and the turnout was phenomenal. It was free, accessible, well marketed and we had an interactive audience,” added Mohajane.

“At Youth Invasion we believe in youth development considering that the youth is the future. I am so glad that the event was successful and the turnout was great. It means we are truly making a difference in our community by empowering and uplifting the youth,” said Mogorosi.

The exhibition uplifted the NPO by giving them exposure and the university showed an ethic of care for its surrounding communities. Youth Invasion, a non-profit organisation (NPO) established in 2014, is an organisation which was established with the purpose of closing the gap between the government and social development to help counteract the problems the youth face in Ikageng.

“The next step for Youth Invasion is to seek more sponsors with a similar vision and passion, in order to make events like these possible, grow Youth Invasion and continue making a difference in the community of Ikageng – our community,” said Mogorosi.

Within the gallery there is photo's of the Kasi Vibes Exhibition

Photos: Kefilwe Ditse