The “Community Punching Bags” or “CPBs” project is an artwork by Johann van der Schijff in collaboration with art teachers and high school learners from and around Cape Town. Johann is an artist and lecturer at The Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. The collaborating art teachers and Grade 10 learners are from Livingstone High School (Claremont), Camps Bay High, Heideveld Senior Secondary School, Fish Hoek High, and Isilimela High School (Langa).

Inspired by artwork in which the community plays a central part in its realisation, this project aims to show that issues often not spoken about openly, such as those that deal with violence, “the other”, stereotyping, discrimination, racism, xenophobia and human rights can be addressed in a collaborative and creative way through the making of art. The overall project consists of five phases: Involving high school art teachers from the greater Cape Town area, Phase 1 consisted of Saturday morning workshop sessions (in 2011) to develop cut-out designs/collages with the art teachers (images follow); In Phase 2 of the project, local leather artisans crafted the cut-out designs/collages into actual punching bags; Phases 3 and 4 replicate Phases 1 and 2, but with the teachers passing their CPBs workshop skills to the schoolchildren. Phase 5 will be a major exhibition that consists of the drawings, paper cut-outs/collages and punch bag sculptures that emanated from the workshops.

The CPBs project involves a broad range of institutional contributorsi. Van der Schijff says “The National Research Foundation, via my own research activities at the University of Cape Town, provided seed funding for the project. Significant funding from the Prins Claus Fundii in The Netherlands enabled me to roll out the project at the participating schools in Cape Towniii – the participating schools had responded to an open invitation via The Frank Joubert Art Centre, who also provided the premises for most of the workshops and contributed to workshop facilitation. Iziko Museums of Cape Town’s Education and Public Programmes contributed to the design and facilitation of the workshops as well as leading walkabouts and a workshop during the exhibition”.

The CPBs project is intended to be viewed as an artwork. Johann’s iconography draws on art that relies on viewer participation, chance and the absurd. The project – at its core involving participation from both the makers and the viewers – is therefore an unpredictable process open to chance and serendipity that reveals itself as it unfolds. It is neither a scientific nor a pedagogical exercise, but is a conceptual artwork – it does not aim to provide definite answers to the questions it poses, but remains open to interpretation.

Sincerely,

Johann van der Schijff

Cape Town, Monday 5 May 2012