Gathering Creativity Together:
A Collaboration Between South African Artists
and Boston University Printmaking Students
A Collaboration Between South African Artists
and Boston University Printmaking Students
This collaboration began in November 2015. Printmaking students at Boston University School of Visual Art, established a collaborative design exchange with Sister Sheila Flynn and the Kopanang Community Trust women artists located on the East Rand in South Africa. More than twenty individuals from Boston University and 18 Kopanang artists were involved in this six-month-long collaboration, separated by continents but connected by a desire to help and understand one another. This new collaborative project started with students creating drawings that reflected both a sense of self and place, resulting in highly personalized images. Sister Sheila then gave feedback on these drawings, on an individual basis, during her annual presentation in the printmaking studios. Students took the critical input and carved images into linoleum blocks and printed them in black ink. These fresh impressions were then sent to the Kopanang artists to be adapted into colorful embroideries. The translation from one medium to another was marvelous, vibrant in color, and full of African expression. All of the prints and embroideries were available for purchase and were sold almost immediately. This outreach and collaboration helped bring greater awareness and much need assistance to the women artists of Kopanang. This is not the first occasion Boston University students have engaged with Sheila/Kopanang. In past years, our collaborative efforts revolved around World Aids Day by selling hand-made products and embroideries from Kopanang artists and printed banners by students on the BU campus. There was a desire to develop a deeper connection, and the design collaboration grew from this initial concept.
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Kopanang: A Safe Community For Women Facing Adversity And Illness
The Kopanang Community Trust is made up of a community of women with indomitable strength, nestled on the fringe of Johannesburg. Each Kopanang woman carries the burden of HIV/AIDs, whether inflicted with the virus, or caring for a loved one that lives with the disease. Forged from life’s challenges, they are fiercely compassionate and humble in their wisdom, with courage that cannot be denied.
Kopanang provides a safe platform for these women to learn new skills. Through these skills they are empowered to create ranges of beautifully hand crafted beaded and embroidered products which make the perfect gift, African souvenir or handcrafted home decor artwork. Each design is interpreted by the women of Kopanang and will vary in style and color, ensuring that every piece is one of a kind. These Handmade African gifts will bring a touch of African-inspired design, color, charm and a story to your home or office. |
The Women of Kopanang - Official Full Length Film by Haphazard Films A documentary short film about the Kopanang Community Trust Project near Johannesburg, South Africa. The film chronicles the hardships facing communities in the local townships, and how Kopanang, a care center that provides education, counseling, income and companionship, is lifting those communities out of the darkness. |
Here They Are: All 230 Amazing Participants!
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Madeline Mcelroy
Madeleine Bialke Marisa Gilbert Marie-Anne Vest Jackie West Cassidy Early Erin Kerbert Julianna Katz Edie Cote Bastiyan Rodrigo Kristine Mahan Kristen Nemes Naomi Tenenini Yunqi Qian Juhee Kang Morgan Lindsey Malik Tricoche Sarah Greenhaus Sally Chen Xiaowei Kong Yujia Peng Elanna Honan Grace Lennon Josie Tou Kaylah Haye Leo Feininger Haley Manin Sofija Chroneos Avery Ruffle Heeyeon Kim Nikita Singh Yian Zhao (Nicole) Olivia Williams Olivia Holdsworth Sarah Cummings Elianna Dryer Carson LaGreca Michael Laungjessadakun Mean-Hie Kim Karlena Fletcher Kabita Das Julian MacMilian Jordan Yu Hera He Molly German Gabriela Tirado Eunkyo Hong Juan Estella Emerson Lawson Coco Wang Brooke Jones Brendan Cobb Greg Bond Angela Lian Emily Bowen Rachel Chung Grace Colbert Camryn Connolly Jillian Furchak Ellen Kanellias Andrew Kim Louris Henry Manon Michel Sigourney Schultz Mariana Velasquez Yi Wang Valentina Wicki Alicja Wisniowska Olivia James Antonella Jones Caolan Disini Brianna Howard Shuqung Si Rachel Ryoo Qingyang Yu Maureen Burns Lucia Pabon Kimberly Joseph Kara Chen Evelyn Bi Eric Marcus Charlotte Kershaw Barbara Kang Aiden Ishii Angelo Gaminde Dalia Saleeby Melissa Delarosa Abby Gross Jenna Riedl Chinwe Oparaji Ken Rudolph Felix Huang Tammie Kim Amanda Marki Emily Perelman Bridget Bailey Xianying Yu Mingxi Wu Fiona Wada-Gill Jon Vogel Angelica Trujillo Morgan Recker Kendall Gregory Mei Asada Christine Kim Annette Yan Anya Gellerman Changyan Weng Charles Freda Claire Collins Clare Doran Emma Kopelowicz Katie O’Rourke Katie So Bryn Kahle |
Sarah Nam
Xiang Li Shamayam Scully Chelsea Han Joshua Brennan Mei Asada Kendall Gregory Christine Kim Morgan Recker Angelica Trujillo Fiona Wada-Gill Mingxi Wu Bonnie Yu Matt Gates Matt Guattery Natasha Kelley Allegra Kevorkian Jackie Loring Caytlin Masson Ching-Hsian Meng Julia Owen Kaya Randall Ruby Schwat Lauren Shapiro Sydney Stevens Sam Weinberger Xinyu Hao Brittany Ficaro Lauren Boysa Owen Casey Valentina Diaz Danielle Chang Yaming Jiang Saoirse Killion Andrea Landers Yuqing Lin Shelby Mitchel Eugene Park Avishi Rajgarhia Nell Sheridan Kismet Singh Sambrindhi Subedi Kexin Zhang Julia Cheung Jessie Choi Abby Conant Wendi Gjata Minsuh Jeong Minsuh Kim Soobin Kim Yeji Kim Shenija Liu Yantong Liu Sofia Lopez Grace Morales Dar Saravia Anthony Venturi Ruxian Wang Eleanor Bernard Corrina Blood Riley Fitzpatric Lilian Gastis Kelly Guo Olivia Hwang Carli Johnson Christy Kim Wanjing Li Bonnie Lin Jacob Markarian Megin Morin Anya Nikulina Taylor Olson Jimmy Taiwo Abbie Garretson Sofia Innamorato Leena Jang Janet Liu Sheryl Peng Tamar Ponte Alexandra Purdy Annika Pyo Sophia Russo Rachel Stern Zihan Tang Kalinda Tran Hailey Wang Sawyer Yoh Isaac Zou Anita Osaruguemwen Claudia Kehoe Daniel Cui Emma Ellis Hayley Clark Isaac Killilea Lily Bailey Megan Sharon Napasorn Visuthiwat Stephanie Liu Svetlana Stepanova Yifan Wang Zoe Denkenberger Caden Honda Adrienne Chau Brendon Chan Nina Clementi Alexandra Flynn Megan Go Emika Hammond Olivia Hughes Rhea Janwadkar Amelia Jerlach Jemimah Jolimeau Helena Nguyen Haleu Oh Shannon Rusnak |
ALL FUNDS RAISED ARE DONATED TO THE KOPANANG COMMUNITY TRUST
568 23rd Road Withok Estate Brakpan 1541 South Africa
