Sanelisiwe Mabaso

An exhibition titled ‘Change Room’ emphasising the relation of women has officially kicked off at the BAT Centre in Durban.

The exhibition is curated by Mbali Shabge and features art works from 7 Durban-based emerging artist, namely; Andiswa Tshabalala, Mbali Sahabane, Londiwe Mtshali, Lorin Sookool, Ncumisa Mcitwa, Mnomusa Mtshali and Selloane Moeti.

Mbali Shabane, the curator of ‘Change Room’ and also an exhibiting artist explained that the exhibition is more than just a showcasing.

“This exhibition is not a mere exhibition but a project which is an interactive discourse with an aim to create dialogue between younger and older generations. The objective of the visual art conversation is to bring women together through the engagement of shared experiences,” she said.

Shabane further added that they hoped the artwork would eventually lead to dialogues and conversations between women in society.

“This is designed to break barriers that may exist, creating bridges that women may better support each other while learning to connect with one another, the project affirms the authenticity of storytelling and create an environment of reflection, identification and likelihood emphasising how we relate to one another through shared similar encounters and experiences,” she added

Some of the artwork on display at the exhibition

Sellaone Moeti , a Fine Art Graduate from the Durban University of Technology, performance artist and one of the artists who are exhibiting, explained how the collaboration with the artists came about and what the artwork means for her.

“When Mbali approached us, she asked us to create artwork based on a certain trauma experienced with a person, someone older. The past few months we’ve been engaging with different women that went through some sort of traumas and we produce artwork from that,” she said.

“The objective of this exhibition is to open conversations and start dialogues because we always feel that different generations are always saying that the ‘the older generation doesn’t understand us’ and the older generation says ‘the younger generation is lazy’ for us to be able to cater for the future, we need to have an open dialogue cause usually us, as black people we respect our parent to the point where it borders on fear so it ends up not knowing our parents or even other women,” she concluded.

According to event organisers, there are many workshops that are going to happen throughout the exhibition where the older generation and younger generation will meet.

‘Change Room’ will be on display at the BAT Centre until 30 November