Cedar High matriculants to showcase talent at art expo

About 80 Cedar High School matric pupils will take centre stage at the school’s Grade 12 Arts Expo this coming Saturday, August 3.

Drama facilitator Danii Kempshell has called on Mitchell’s Plain residents to support the expo by joining in on the celebration of the pupils’ remarkable talents in dance, design, music, drama, and visual arts.

Cedar gymnastics team and singer Christa Jonas are among the expo line-up. Tickets are R50 each and refreshments will be on sale.

“The arts play a crucial role in fostering creativity, emotional resilience, and community connection. Your attendance is a powerful way to support and recognise their hard work and dedication. By joining us, you help highlight the importance of artistic expression in our children's development and well-being,” she said.

Ms Kempshell says the arts expo is a platform for pupils to display their work before their final national senior exam. “What they will be performing now is actually their matric final,” she said.

The school also aims to bridge the gap between itself and the community, and to bring parents to the school to see what their children are doing.

“We have children who come from hectic social economic issues and want to show that they are more than their issues. They are artists, thinkers and revolutionists. They are children who have the ability to change the way the world is at the moment, and that is what we want the community to see at the expo,” she said.

One such thinker is Siwephiwe Nkanunu, 18, from Philippi East, who will be showcasing her performance arts talent on Saturday. Siwephiwe fell in love with drama while listening to radio stories as a young child and believes it is a powerful medium to expose everyday life issues.

“Ms Kempshell once told me, when life happens theatre reacts. There has been many things in my life that people just overlook, but theatre just exposes it in another way. Theatre has made me grow as a person, writer and actor.

“There are many things you might experience as a person but when you are performing it, there are people who can learn and grow from it. Then you realise that you are not alone in this situation,” she said.

Without giving too much away about her performance at the upcoming arts expo, Siwephiwe said guests can look forward to several positive takeaways.

“I am hoping for people to learn from it; that there is hope no matter where you are or where you come from. You have the ability to succeed in whatever you do,” she said.

Visual artist Jaden-Lee Arendse, 18, said he started doing art when he was much younger to escape some issues of life. “I could’t handle the things around me and drawing was a way of me controlling the situation. When I draw, I control the lines and colours, and how everything looks and plays out,” he said.

Jaden-Lee enjoys drawing big illustrations of about a metre each, which usually takes about 10 pens and 300 hours to complete. He is especially looking forward to sharing his year’s artwork with his family.

The Beacon Valley youngster also hopes to encourage other Mitchell’s Plain youth through his art.

"It is not about your background. My mother always told me you can’t choose your past but you can choose the person you are going to become. I like that because you cannot control your environment, background and people around you, but you can change your future and build a better one for yourself.

“Nothing is cast in stone until you carve that piece,“ he said.