South Africa (2005)

In May 2005, Take Me To The River (TMTTR) traveled to Pretoria, South Africa, where an exhibition was held at the Pretoria Art Museum. Four South African artists were invited to exhibit with the TMTTR artists, and two South African artists are now permanent members of the project.

As part of the exhibition in Pretoria, a community outreach initiative was undertaken by TMTTR for the first time. TMTTR artists worked on an art project with forty 8th and 9th grade schoolchildren at their school in Mamalodi Township, outside of Pretoria. The schoolchildrens’ art work was exhibited alongside the works of the TMTTR artists at the Pretoria Art Museum, and all forty students received a certificate at the exhibition’s opening ceremony.

TMTTR—South Africa enjoyed extensive media coverage, and the exhibition’s opening was one of the largest in the Pretoria Art Museum’s history.

Dirkie Offringa, chief curator of the Pretoria Art Museum stated, “The Pretoria Art Museum in South Africa felt honoured to be selected by the TMTTR project to host this exhibition.  We thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with these high profile international artists, and audiences were exposed to different and stimulating artistic approaches to universal issues.  Art possesses a degree of universality that knows no boundaries and which contributes to the young democracy in this country.  Especially the outreach project involving the artists and learners from Mamelodi left an indelible mark in the hearts of the youngsters.  Thank you TMTTR for coming on shore here on your river cruise!”

The Take Me To The River Project in South Africa was funded from diverse sources including foundations, corporations, private individuals and in-kind contributions.