Meeting Art Vibrations in Cape Town!
A research and development trip to Cape Town took thirty members of the Bloco in March 2024, allowing them to experience and learn about the city’s music and culture. The amazing Art Vibrations, located within the Ocean View neighbourhood of the Western Cape were one of the incredible organisations we met while we were out there, and even got to collaborate with for a unforgettable performance at Cape Town Carnival. Art Vibrations also work with young people via creative activity, and we were very lucky to meet, play and dance with so many of them while we were there.
After a fun-filled workshop and a breathtaking parade at carnival we caught up with Creative Director, Alvin Castro to learn more about Art Vibrations and the work they do.
How did Art Vibrations come about?
The Organization Art Vibrations Inc. II is a youth development program established in the community of Ocean View in the Western Cape. The community is a product of the “Group Areas Act & subsequent Forced Removals” from the Apartheid era.
The organization was developed by Youth for Youth as a mechanism to develop the Arts & has successfully been operational for the last 34 years. We have since engaged our energies on uplifting severely disadvantaged youth creating alternatives to the realities of violent crime, drug abuse, HIV & Aids & child-headed dysfunctional families, homelessness, gender based trauma, gangsterism, addiction & so many other atrocities plaguing young people on the Cape Flats and has sadly become the stark reality of the daily lives of our youth in South Africa.
Our project also serves as a Ward to the Simonstown magistrate’s court & acts as an alternative for redirecting misguided youth as opposed to incarcerating them.
The House of Art Vibrations Incorporated II has since its inception served as a lifeline for many of our youth from our communities.
Our programming is specifically designed to interact with & develop Youth at Risk. We are Specialized Developers for children & Youth within the Arts.
What do the young people get out of attending Art Vibrations?
Our Project was designed with the intention of developing the talent of our youth in the spheres of Art & Culture with the directive of creating a place of learning for the purpose of skills development in those fields. A school of the Art’s where activities offered are in line with establishing multiple facets within the entertainment industry & our vision is to elevate our learners into this industry at an amateur professional level.
Why is Art Vibrations so important to the Ocean View community?
Our project operates on a daily basis Monday to Friday & on weekends in the event of specialized commitments.
Our project will soon be celebrating its 35th anniversary in August. In the time of its existence it has sustained itself through the sheer determination of its +- 900 regular students who refused to give up in the face of poverty & other adversities as well as the Covid 19 Pandemic. Our total student intake is inclusive of, over & above the schools in our valley, which we engage through our Creative schools & LatchKey program. Most of our divisions where funding is not a prerequisite, operate on a daily basis while others function as funding becomes available. In most instances, students have raised their own funds to keep the project ongoing. Each Division/ department is run by young members of our community who have become empowered themselves, with relevant skills to run the department & then impart the knowledge to our students who in turn teach each other thereby securing the longevity of the project with the “Each one Teach one philosophy”
Not only does the project enhance each individual’s life through developing their skills & talent it also addresses social issues youth are faced with in their own homes & personal life (i.e. single parent families/ HIV positive family members, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, rape, teenage suicide, poverty, human trafficking, gang & gun violence etc)
Over the years, our project has become a visible beacon of hope for many young people in our community who otherwise would have been consumed by the onslaught of drug abuse, gang violence, child abuse etc. To the community the organisation has become a life-line for our youth.
How do you incorporate youth voice across the organisation?
The very foundation of our organization was to create a safe space for Youth within the Arts to have a voice. In 34 years we have grown to a student base of over 900 dedicated students that continually fluctuates through the doors of our program. Of this total 79% comes from single parent families. Our students range in age from 7 to 35 who participate in a variety of art forms. We run very successful holiday programs where the children have participated in dance, art and music classes and produced arts and crafts to sell at functions & festivals hosted by ourselves. Our dancers have produced and participated in major dance productions, showcasing, competitions and have performed internationally and do perform regularly as guests for other projects, studios and festivals. Regular opportunities are made for them to attend dance and theatre performances and events. We are proud of our achievements i.e.;’ sending the first African woman to represent the African continent at the world Break dance championship in Germany, giving a voice to all the woman of Africa. Freestyle Hip Hop dancers competed at the world championship in Sweden our vocalist perform in the Canary Islands, our collaboration with the Lancaster Youth Center in London & of course our new partnership with Kinetika Bloco London, our partnerships with University of Cape Town’s Global exchange programme, the City of Cape Town’s local government community development initiatives; as well as their open air initiatives’ Concerts in the Parks”, also not forgetting our assistance in the creation of the Deep South Valleys Emzantsi Carnival our valley’s own version of the Rio Carnivals used as a tool to create intercultural collaborations between the diverse communities in our Valley. The Black Noise Heal the Hood Project, our achievements in the division of drama in winning awards at the Masque Theater’s school festival where we were the first youth groups of colour to win awards of “Best direction in a play called Homsa & Juliho a Cape Flats version of Romeo & Juliet & Somewhere over the Rainbow a play focused on HIV & Aids” & our assistance in developing; a classical dance project created by our very own world renowned Christopher Kindo; The Tercia Kindo Art’s Project developed in honor the niece of legendary ballet dancer Christopher Kindo, who was brutally murdered as a latch key child in our community of Ocean View. Our dynamic achievement of our contribution to the World Cup 2010 games in Africa & our proudest moment & latest achievement, serving as the community agent to the production of the locally produced “Noem My Skollie” awarded an academy award at the Toronto film festival, as well as our PSA’s with the globally acclaimed film company A21 in shining the spotlight on ‘Human Trafficking’ to name but a few. Our IGNITE Program became a port of relief for humanitarian food relief through the Covid 19 Lockdown & navigated our community out of the Covid 19 Pandemic. Embracing the birth of the 5th Industrial revolution our Journalism student proudly rebirthed the digital version of our community news platform; THE OCEAN TIMES & newly developed OCEAN WAVE Community Radio Station. All these accolades are achieved by creating platforms for the voice of our Youth
How did the young people find performing at Cape Carnival!?
One word UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!
Thank you so much to Art Vibrations for welcoming us, we will never forget you guys!
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