Narrative art
Telling stories through art, children create shared experiences that inform, challenge, perhaps shock and always leave us somehow different for having shared it
A lot of what we do at MADaboutART is about telling stories. Shared stories that build understanding, empathy. I am not alone. I feel understood. When working, as we do, as a collective of artists communication is key to coming up with a big idea. How each of our individual contributions works together to tell a whole story. Sometimes an individual owns their story. Sometimes it’s a shared story and or a bit of both. Narrative is just a way of showing a connection to others. The creative process is a complex one requiring empathy as well as technical and communication skills. We use devices to link and draw ideas together. We need to communicate, to have empathy for and with others and to have spatial planning and conceptual skills as we work together as a collective to achieve. This process is key to the very essence of what makes MAD so powerful. If you go to any of the young people who have been part of MAD over the years they will tell you these skills are the most important ones they gained from working together
HIV provided the reason and is still present in the lives of the young people we work with today. Young people finding solace expressing emotions through art and the pure joy of creativity. One of our main reasons for building a gallery in the township is to bring art to a space where there has been little other than the very practical. It can be a hard space to try to have something special, beautiful. In knowing their art might be seen and appreciated by others the young artists feel good about themselves and the place that is theirs
