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Karnagie
Sharp's diary
Day
4
The name Philamon is not familiar by any means…Degas, Monet, Picasso
are artists we identify with. Their works of art are recognised
the world over. I’m not an artist, not a painter so my perception
of what good art is, could easily be contested.
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| Philamon's
makeshift bathroom. |
Today,
I was exposed to the art works of Philamon, which I considered to
be quite a talent.
Philamon
is a pupil at Nonhlevu Secondary. He is a self taught artist.
He
is in his final year at school, with a vision to one day become
a professional artist, but his dream is challenged by the way in
which he exists.
He
lives in one of South Africa’s post apartheid "developed"
residential areas; a squatter camp…his situation is desperate. On
leaving school, he will probably strive to try and get into tertiary
education to make his dream become a reality but chances of that
success story taking place are slim…Philamon paints without being
taught how to.
He
has what people consider to be "raw talent". One of his
recent paintings was chosen by the Kwa Zulu Natal’s tourist board
to be part of one of their official calendars.
He
showed me the calendar, his most prized possession, with immense
pride and joy. "I want to be an artist one day", he said.
I told him he was already an artist. He said, "Yes, but I want
to do this professionally, I want to go to college".
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| Philamon's
painting of an African Kraal. |
I didn’t
respond to him, I wasn’t sure how to, I just nodded my head and
smiled and hoped that this young lad for all his enthusiasm and
passion will one day become the man he wants to be.
Away
from this poverty and this life he will step into something more
promising, more meaningful, more fulfilling…if he ever gets the
opportunity to do so.
He
will after all be given a fair chance to do what he really wants
to do. There are many Philamons here at Nonhlevu, with dreams big
enough to pull at the heart strings of any individual.
I’m
amazed that this child gets the inspiration to do the type of work
he does irrespective of his desperate conditions. The one thing
that he does have is hope, a hope that’s being fuelled by this project,
where six Berkshire schools have taken the time to pay attention
to situations like these.
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