And So The Stories Ran Away

The first exhibition for children held at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa has opened, and it's so far a resounding success.

Titled And So The Stories Ran Away the exhibit is an innovative collaboration between the Michaelis School of Fine Art, the Ruth Prowse School of Art, and the Nyanga Arts Development Centre and curated by Zeitz MOCAA’s Centre for Art Education (CFAE).

Created to celebrate stories from Africa, the installations are designed to engage the imaginations of children, inviting them into a multi-sensory, interactive experience with works of art installed in the tunnels on the museum’s lower ground level around the atrium bowl. 

Liesl Hartman, co-curator and CFAE head, says that the title is inspired by a Nigerian Ekoi legend of how the character Mouse visits the houses of all people, gathering their stories and making them her own. The stories grow and grow until they burst out of her house, and run off into the world. 

The art students worked hard to create a weirdly wonderful world of strange creatures, characters, and mysterious but invitingly interactive spaces.

In practical terms, it means your kids can touch the artworks, and there are plenty of strings to pull, textures to feel, places to hide and much fun to be had.  

The museum welcomes children, and runs several initiatives that invite and encourage children to engage with art, from school programmes and community collaboration to family programmes and more. 

This is proving popular: since opening in late 2017 over 19 000 children and educators have accessed the museum via these programs. 

This exhibition runs until March 2020, and on Wednesday mornings the museum is free to all residents of Africa. Children under 18 are always free. 

Exhibition Title: And So The Stories Ran Away

Venue: Zeitz MOCAA, Level -1 Tunnels

Run dates: 8 September 2019 – 30 March 2020

Exhibition Curators: Liesl Hartman and Richard Kilpert

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