On the 27th October, the Artist Proof Studio (APS) hosted a screenprinting workshop on protest and activism for the Inner City Federation (ICF) in collaboration with Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon from the Department of Anthropology at Wits University and the Socio-Economics Rights Institute (SERI). The workshop, involving 17 participants, focused on using visual media and slogans to promote awareness around housing and gender rights in Johannesburg. The participants designed and screen printed their own protest flags. This process was facilitated by our creative APS team.
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The Inner City Federation is a community-based organization which started in 2015 by inner-city residents as a platform for shared knowledge and experience where Johannesburg inner city residents come together to resolve common issues. It represents the residents of over forty buildings in the inner-city, many facing eviction or relocation, or living in unlawful occupations or temporary accommodation. The ICF mobilizes around access to basic rights and represents both South Africans and foreign nationals. The workshop stemmed out of a research collaboration between the ICF, SERI and Wilhelm-Solomon from 2017 on focusing on the lived experiences of occupation, eviction and emergency accommodation in Johannesburg. It was the continuation of a participative workshop on media hosted in 2018 at the Wits Anthropology Museum.
The philosophy behind the workshop is using research as a form of critical pedagogy and experimenting with new forms of urban engagement between civil society, academia and the arts.
