ART: UBOM!
Unzip your Knowledge
By Nicole Rodel
"Why should we all use our creative power…? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money."
To my mind, this quote from journalist, editor and author Brenda Ueland describes the vision of Ubom! in a single sentence. They use creativity as a way to encourage social change and development. They do this by producing performances that ignite debate and discussion, and in this way, the beginning of the search for solutions to shared problems within a community.
During my time with Ubom!, they put together a dramatized version of RU Learning, which is a guide that Rhodes uses to introduce students to what it means to be part of the university environment. In April, I watched how the cast raise the curtain on the final result: a play that they called Unzip your Knowledge. In this blog, I follow them from the rehearsal room to the stage.
The Wangai
By Denzil de Klerk
It is hard to miss the fact that this play was inspired by Dr Seuss’s famous children's book, The Lorax. But Ubom! Ubutsha turns the story about a tree-saving hero into something that is uniquely of their own making.
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'Ubom! Ubutsha' is a company of young actors who form part of the Ubom! partnership. When I first met them, they explained to me that the name means 'new life'. I soon learned that they are passionate about the arts, but more so about sharing positive ideas.
I watched as they amazed and inspired Grahamstown’s primary school children with their latest project, The Wangai. In my blog, I take a closer look at the staging of this performance.
