2017
A community-based theatre project
PONGA projects is a community-based theatre project that was established in 2017 by a group of young artists whom after many years in the arts industry decided to come together and create an organisation that will make a difference in the community through arts and culture. We initiated this project in order to help young people express their thoughts in the form of storytelling and use it as therapy to heal the communities, escape poverty and other socio-economic maladies.
We address the challenges faced by the disadvantaged communities through performing arts, awareness programmes and workshops. We want to provoke dialogue which will bring about possible solutions. We strive to instil hope and courage for the future in the young minds and aimed at giving platform to young upcoming artists to express themselves artistically and give them the knowledge they need to uplift themselves and their communities at large.
We facilitate workshops in schools and community halls, where we encourage the children and the youth to be the change they want to see. We create stage plays that address social challenges like poverty, crime, substance abuse, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, unemployment, discrimination, and racism to name a few. We encourage the youth to love their background and where they come from through traditional music, dances, and storytelling.
Our team has participated in many international cultural exchange programmes and presented our theatrical works in international stages which has helped us look at the world from a more open and less ignorant manner. We have facilitated workshops in many youth centres in Europe and Asia, lifting the South African flag higher in cultural festivals and carnivals.
The management recently finished a three-year programme which is run by Drama For Life at the Witwatersrand University and Joburg Theatre called Applied Performing Arts and Arts Management. We have learnt how to create employment for young people through arts, give them skills to be self-reliable and find opportunities in every challenge that they are faced with. We are promoting unity and peace among humankind regardless of race or gender. We want to promote a culture of teamwork and love among communities where one is able to help the needy at all times and bring about change in the community. We continue to create partnerships with other organisations that have similar visions and objectives i.e., schools, theatres, further educational training institutes, charitable organisations, etc.
To create a platform for performing artists that through entertainment they may bring awareness to our vibrant community. The goal is to address the social and cultural issues through performing arts and the community will be encouraged to engage in such dialogues and be part of solving these social issues.
To create a safe space where we can celebrate the diverse culture of performing arts, having a dialogue through a safe medium which is arts that will engage the community, bring change, create jobs, touch lives, and enlighten our community
In 2017, PONGA projects was chosen alongside four other community organisations to be part of a skills and youth development programme by Joburg Theatre in partnership with Drama For Life and the University of Witwatersrand. In this three-year programme there are four modules covered in order to make these organisation well established and be managed in a professional manner that will see them grow and becoming more effective in the communities. The modules are:
We have successfully finished our second year with a Launch of our own Arts Festival and anticipate our final year beginning in July 2019.
PONGA projects collaborated with The Perfect Storm and Li’tsmong, and in partnership with Joburg theatre and support from other employees from the Department of Arts and Culture, successfully hosted an Arts Festival on the 30th of March 2019 at the Protea South Multipurpose Centre. The three organisations were able to stage three professional stage plays on a stage truck provided by the Joburg Theatre, and many aspiring artists from the communities were given the platform to showcase their craft.
PONGA projects and the other organisation were presented the opportunity to use the stage truck for community activation projects. We are allowed to send a proposal requesting the stage truck and this gives a possibility to the future of our Arts Festival. This partnership will help our organisation able to outreach and promote the arts and culture in the communities.
PONGA projects has undertaken two international tours, promoting our South African culture and traditions through music, dance and storytelling. Our first tour was in 2017 to Taiwan for an International Folkdance Festival. The second tour was in collaboration with M.U.K.A Project to Germany in 2018, facilitating African Dance workshops in schools and presented a dance show titled TRENDS OF AFRICA in arts festivals.
We had schools and choirs from Europe visiting us every year since 2017, we have offered them a dance and music workshops. We have given them tours around our cities and towns. We continue to host international friends and have shared our rich culture and traditions. An invitation with a Danish choir and facilitate workshop between May 2020 and June 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19.
PONGA projects has managed to facilitate theatre, dance and music workshops in schools and has presented plays addressing social issues around our communities although it has never been funded before. Our dedicated members continue to make partnerships in all sectors with the vision of making the organisation well established and using performing arts a medium of changing the social ills we are faced with.
In August 2020, Pillars of the New Generation Artists Projects in partnership with Ignite the Fire were funded by the newly established Barloworld Empowerment Foundation to run a community development project with special focus on capacity building workshops, research of unwritten history and unearthing the rich talent in Hammanskraal. The trial project was a success, and it has led to a new partnership between Pillars of the New Generation Artists and Barloworld Empowerment Foundation that will be officially launched on the 14th of May 2021 in Hammanskraal.
