Upon arrival at the school, each artist chose a comfortable space within an array of available rooms that for two weeks would become home. These worked spaces over time bore the stains of the artists’ creative process, their histories, thoughts and memories .It takes time for artists to orientate themselves in a new working space-at first work came slowly, but as the days progressed, people got into a gentle rhythm and things began to gently pick up momentum.

Throughout the workshop, artists organised walkabouts of each others work, that provided a valuable opportunity for participants to engage with each other’s conceptual concerns- constructive input from the group was encouraged. Characteristically unstructured, the Thupelo workshops can prove a real challenge to many artists looking for external direction to their creative process. Inner confidence does slowly solidify and artists who initially feel out of their depth, find their feet again. The magic of Thupelo I have found, is finding the courage to be vulnerable and lose oneself in the process or art making -in doing so one finds new ground for future projects. As reflected by artist Jill Trappler, “each urban workshop comes with its own tricks”. Perhaps one of the greatest threats to the synergy and cohesion of the workshop was the fact that due to limited funds the international and local artists did not have the privilege of sharing similar living spaces. While local artists were expected to return to their respective homes at the end of the day, international artists lived in a communal living space that made for free and deep interaction .Indeed to foster greater interaction amongst artists, it would be ideal to have all artists live in a similar communal setting. Despite this dearth of shared time, artists did however take advantage of hour long lunch breaks to eat together and freely talk about art and life. These moments became cherished oases. Through daily presentations were encouraged to contextualise the work of their peers. These brief presentations provided greater layers of understanding into the creative process of the participating artists. It was obvious that the caliber of many of the artists was high and the projects they had involved themselves previously, inspiring.

Merging painters, printmakers, conceptual artists, videographers and spinners in one space distills into pure magic! Thupelo has never in its history seen such an unprecedented number of female artists participating – it is a delight to know that perhaps finally the gender dynamics are equalising in the arts. On Thursday 13 December, the artists were kindly sponsored to visit the Spier Contemporary in Stellenbosch. It was a typical sunny day and a much needed break for artists to step back from their own art making and enjoy the work of other artists making strides in their contemporary practice.

Indeed the workshop has come and gone, but as one artist from India remarked, it is what artists bring to a workshop and eventually take back that is important. Work was made, memories forged, laughter and tears exchanged. I am convinced that Thupelo is one experience that lives with an artist for a lifetime.

Tambudzai La Verne Sibanda