Learning at Molofo Arts Centre

Potters work in a noisy studio, next door to the quiet of a library. Around them, dancers practise, women sew and people make music – it’s an ordinary day at Mofolo Arts Centre.
FROM a distance, the Mofolo Arts Centre seems quiet, with very little going on, but once on the premises, it is alive with a variety of activities.

Mxolisi Ngcayiya is crazy about potteryMxolisi Ngcayiya is crazy about potteryThe laughter of sewing women, the sound of hip-hop music blasting from the pottery studio, dancers practising and learning new dance moves and musicians working on their instruments all bring life to the centre. Yet at the same time, it is quiet enough to house a library.

Mofolo Arts Centre is easy to miss because it is hidden away on Mzilikazi Street, away from public transport routes and main roads, but its library is well used, especially by children and youth. The library is open from 9am to 5pm during the week and from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. It does not open on Sundays and public holidays.

According to the library manager, Victor Boshomane, it houses over 14 165 books in various South African languages. It is divided into three areas: a children’s section, a section for young adults and teenagers, and an adults study area.

Boshomane explains that the library is well used: some 2 055 children registered as members during this year’s June holidays, while 460 adults became members in the month of June alone.

Pottery studio
Contradicting the calm setting of the library is the neighbouring pottery studio. Here, hip-hop music pours out of an old radio, competing with the artists who hold their conversations rather loudly.

The artists, John Mbulayeni and Mxolisi Ngcayiya, run and manage the studio. The two met 2003 at a project to teach pottery to youngsters. It was sponsored by Gauteng Tourism and lasted for three years.

John Mbulayeni runs the pottery studioJohn Mbulayeni runs the pottery studioOnce it ended, the two decided to start a pottery business of their own called Mofolo Art Ceramic. They specialise is sculpting public art, vases and other decorative art.

They are responsible for designing and making the huge sign language sculpture that boldly stands at the entrance of Vilakazi Street. Mofolo Art Ceramic also created the huge soccer ball at the Diepkloof Extreme Park.

But the business is not only about creating sculptures and other beautiful products for clients; it also holds annual pottery workshops for learners. Each workshop costs a school between R300 and R500.

“We avoid teaching kids how to create elephants and other decorative animals,” Mbulayeni explains. “We teach them useful art – how to make a cup or a plate, things they can go back home and use.”

According to Ngcayiya, when the pottery business is slow they keep themselves and their company busy by designing and making wedding invitations.

Music
Elias Mbuyisa also likes to pass time at the Mofolo Arts Centre. Mbuyisa, who lives in White City Jabavu, made his very own violin from old guitar strings, a piece of wood and an old motor oil tin. Once he finished it, he taught himself how to play the instrument.

He comes to the centre on a daily basis to practice and improve on his violin playing skills. He shares that he decided to make a violin after he visited his home province of KwaZulu-Natal, where he saw how young men from the area had made their own guitars.

Elias Mbuyisa plays his home-made violinElias Mbuyisa plays his home-made violinThe shy, quietly spoken Mbuyisa has recently bought a proper violin but he explains that his self-made instrument will always have a special place in his heart. He usually brings his new violin to the centre so that anyone who knows how to play it can teach him.

Ifa Lethu Creative Hands
Recently, the Ifa Lethu Creative Hands Incubator was also brought to the Mofolo Arts Centre. The incubator comes in the form of a colourful wheeled rectangular container. It gives a platform to young artists to exhibit and market their products to South Africans and international tourists.

The Ifa Lethu Foundation is a non-profit organisation devoted to the development and economic growth of South Africa’s creative sectors. Based in Tshwane, it was launched in November 2005 by the then minister of arts and culture, Pallo Jordan. Its original aim was to repatriate South African struggle-era cultural heritage, such as art and art objects.

The Creative Hands Incubator is sponsored by Transnet, the national transport utility, in partnership with the University of Pretoria’s School of Entrepreneurship.

In its prime, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Mofolo Arts Centre was the place to be. It buzzed with the who’s who of the day. It is linked to the Mofolo Cultural Bowl, formerly known as the Five Roses Bowl, and hosted music giants such as Sipho Hotsticks Mabuse, Dorothy Masuku and the doctor of malombo music, Philip Tabane.