Dr Albertina Luthuli will be presenting prizes at the Phansi Museum’s Human Rights competition on Saturday, July 29 at 10 am. Over 90 schools from urban and rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal, some from as far afield as Bergville and the Drakensberg, took part in the event. 

One of the most admired contributions the Phansi Museum has made to the enrichment of the cultural life of KwaZulu Natal is the annual Art • Craft • Tradition calendar.

Now in its 22^nd year of production these calendars are distributed to thousands of schools in rural areas.

The 2017 calendar features elements from the 1997 Human Rights Mural of the Final Constitution of South Africa.  To coincide with the launch of the calendar, Phansi Museum launched the Human Rights Art and Essay Competition to urban and rural schools in KwaZulu Natal.

The aim of the competition was to encourage pupils in Grades 5, 11 and 12 to discuss, compare and learn from the content and subject matter of the calendar, i.e. Human Rights.

Grade 5s were required to submit artworks in any medium and Grade 11 and 12 pupils had to submit essays relating to our Human Rights for the competition which closed at the end of May.

Phansi Museum believes that human rights education has to start with the youth and is a critical element in ensuring that the youth are empowered to access the rights to which they are entitled.

To achieve their aims they use their collection of artefacts to uncover the traditional cultures, values and principles of human rights, which relate to tolerance for natural, ethnical, cultural and religious diversity, the right to education, freedom of expression, discrimination, the right to housing, health care and food and access to information.

Ten winners will be announced – seven winning artworks and three winning essays. The authors and artists of the most outstanding and original works will each receive R2 500 and the teachers responsible for them will receive R2 000 per winning submission, of which R1 000 is a prize for the teacher and the balance is to be spent on any creative venture for the class.

The official opening and exhibition of the most inspiring submissions and the winners will be announced on Saturday.