Keiskamma Altarpiece of South Africa

Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) invites the public to the Keiskamma Community Tour Opening.

Sunday, December 03, 2006
8:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Holman United Methodist Church
3320 West Adams Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90018

Schedule:
8:30am - 9:45am/11am - 12:30pm: Sermon "Fig Tree Theology" by Rev. Henry L. Masters
9:45am - 10:45am: Opening of the Keiskamma Altarpiece featuring Eunice Mangwane, South African AIDS Educator from the Eastern Cape

December 3 - 9:  Keiskamma Altarpiece available for public viewing

The Keiskamma Community Tour
Following its west coast debut at UCLA on World AIDS Day, the famed South African Keiskamma Altarpiece will embark on its Los Angeles Community Tour, visiting churches and community centers from December through March to teach, inspire, and call onlookers to action in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.  The tour will begin at Holman United Methodist Church on December 3 and conclude at the First African Methodist Episcopalian Church in April.  Please visit www.ansafrica.org for frequent updates and community tour information. 

The Keiskamma Altarpiece is a present-day folk-art masterpiece from South Africa, created by over one hundred rural women artists whose lives are deeply impacted by HIV/AIDS, poverty, and other significant hardships, as a message of hope for their community, country, and the larger world.   The Altarpiece is a progressive adaptation of a classical religious work that replaces traditional religious iconography with images of black women and vulnerable children who are the "saints" in their community's struggle against AIDS.

This breathtaking, powerful art piece is socially relevant on many levels.  It depicts the immense human cost of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the dignity and power with which people and communities in South Africa are working to overcome this challenge, while also symbolizing the inclusive leadership that faith communities can provide in the fight against HIV/AIDS and in combating the stigma and isolation surrounding the disease. 

Eunice Nombulelo Mangwane is the AIDS counselor in Hamburg, where the altarpiece was created. She has been working in the Hamburg clinics and in AIDS support groups for the past four years. Mrs. Mangwane was born in 1948 in the Eastern Cape but spent many years in Cape Town where she worked as a preschool teacher's aide. In 2000, Mrs. Mangwane moved to Hamburg where she met Dr. Carol Hofmeyr and became active in HIV/AIDS counseling and support. In the surrounding villages. Mrs. Mangwane started many AIDS support groups and worked closely with Dr. Hofmeyr to open the Keiskamma AIDS Treatment Centre, which Mrs. Mangwane now manages. She has two children and three grandchildren and is an accomplished singer.  She is depicted in the central panel of the altarpiece with her three grandchildren, one of whom is HIV-positive.
 
Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating the African AIDS pandemic and advancing democracy and equality in South Africa. ANSA also works to further civil rights and safeguard voting rights in the U.S.  In partnership with South African and American organizations, grassroots movements, leaders, artists and activists, ANSA works to make a difference through public education and mobilization, advocacy, grantmaking, media campaigns and the provision of material aid.  ANSA harnesses the talents, visibility and resources of artists to increase awareness, raise money and mobilize action on AIDS, South Africa and U.S. civil rights.

Cost : Free and open to the public

For more information please contact:

PaymonEbrahimzadeh

paymone@gmail.com

www.ansafrica.org

Sponsor(s): , Artists for a New South Africa, Holman United Methodist Church. Information about non-ASC events is posted for informational purposes and does not reflect opinions of or endorsements by African Studies personnel.