Seen and Unseen Steps to Success
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Keywords
Disability, Socially Engaged Art, South Africa, Trust
Abstract
This is the story of the making of a sculpture called the Steps to Success built in a Special Needs School in Umlazi Township in Durban, South Africa. It is a story not just about the stones, metal wire, concrete and paint of the steps. It is a story about all the people that made it possible and how those memories are hidden in the steps. The sculpture was built by the learners and teachers at the school and a Scottish organisation called Crossing Countries. It is still being added to by the school and other organisations. It is a story about how art helps to build trust overtime between people who have different skills and come from different countries.
References
Helguera, P. (2011). Education for Socially Engaged Art: A Materials and Techniques Handbook, New York: Jorge Pinto
Hlongwane, N., Drake, J. & Cathro, J. (Forthcoming). ‘An Invitation to Contemplate: Dialogues about disability hierarchies between South Africa and Scotland’ in Meyers, S., McCloskey, M. & Petri, G. (eds) Hierarchies of Disability Human Rights, Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Book Series, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Press
Leeson, L. (2018). Art: Process: Change: Inside a Socially Situated Practice, Routledge, New York: Routledge https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315617527
Mason Lincoln Special School (2022). http://masonlincolnschool.co.za/
Mataraso, F. (2020). A Restless Art: How Participation Won, and Why It Matters, https://arestlessart.com/the-book/download-a-digital-copy/
Sánchez de Serdio, A. (2018). ‘(Mis)trusting Strangers’, in Hablarenarte Impossible Glossary CAPP, http://www.hablarenarte.com/catalogos/doc_glosario_ed2/PDF/glosario2018_en.pdf
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Jean Cathro, University of Highlands and Islands
Jean Cathro is studying a MA in Art and Social Practice at the University of Highlands and Islands. She is the founder of Crossing Countries, a social enterprise and has worked supporting disabled students at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland for the past 15 years.