The EVERYWOMAN Project - Part 2

SO HOW IS IT COMING ALONG....?

Since PART 1, our NEXT STEP was to organise the many-hands workshops necessary to stitch the nearly 4000 yoyo's together. No small task! But we put out the call and volunteers come flooding in. To our delight very quickly all eight of our two-hour workshops were full - with a waiting list. So with the Zeitz MOCAA education department on board, we were all set to go! 

Just as soon as the Zeitz opened its doors one sunny Friday in February, Beryl was there to usher in the early birds. And there at the entrance, was Emily Ilunga, who made all the bright orange yoyo button badges given to each and every volunteer.

The Zeitz Education greeting team was Liesl Hartman....

...and off...

There were also...

Then we got stuck into the serious business...

....Mandisa Ngqulana...

...they...

Each volunteer got up to tell her story - who she is, what she does...and she is coping with lockdown!

They worked alone, or in pairs...with sisters or with friends...

There were tips and troubles with needle threading...

...some proud...

...of putting it all together...

...and Richard Kilpert.

Project designer Mara Fleischcer gave us the how-to....the yoyo's were ready and waiitng....as was the tea, thanks to Pick n Pay.

...went!

They were young and old, pensive and chatty - we even had a few guys join the team...

...and some pressing moments from Mara.

...as well as mad moments.

...and some volunteers brought along their own work by way of inspiration.

There was also the tricky question of what we were going to call these funny little roundels...

...and what we were going to call the finished thing. The Blessing Blanket came up as a suggestion because there are the volunteers secret wishes and blessings tucked into some of them.

The Singing Skirt came up as another because of the sound the tin lids at the end of each row when they swing together in the wind...but for now, until it finds its way up on to the walls of Artscape to celebrate the theatre centre's 50th birthday - we just call it EVERYWOMAN!

So from us all at WOMAN ZONE we'd like to say a huge great big Nkosi Kakuuuulu to everyone who has helped us so far...

Finally, we were very proud when Tanya Nefdt from enca came to make us famous of national televisison...

...the Zeitz MOCAA Educational Team for energy, input and space, Pick n Pay for refreshments, Da Gama Textiles for the fabulous fabric...

...but will be prouder still when we get to make the ceremonial walk from the Zeitz to Artscape on May 16th to hand over the precious piece to its final destination...

...and most especially the WONDERFUL volunteers - not all of whom are shown here, but all of whom made such a valuable contribution.

...in celebration of its 50th anniversary: 1971 - 2021 from Nico to Artscape. #Onwards #Voerentoe #Siyaphambili