“See our Faces, Hear our Voices”
World Homeless Day at the Denis Hurley Centre
Sat 10 October
Artists from Unlearn to Learn mentored by Kenneth Shandu, and DUT students will spend World Homeless Day – Saturday 10 October – sketching portraits of members of the homeless community and of the public, at the Denis Hurley Centre to launch the DHC’s new campaign in the run up to the Municipal Elections called “See our Faces, Hear our Voices”.
“We will be celebrating World Homeless Day with this simple proposition: if you truly see someone, you can connect with them. We want Durban to stop looking away from homelessness and start seeing the people behind the label,” says the DHC’s Director Designate, Bridget Ward.
The public, as well as any keen sketchers, are warmly invited to come to the Denis Hurley Centre on Saturday 10 Oct from 9am to 12 noon. Artists from Unlearn to Learn will be at the DHC sketching people.
“You can also be a part of this. For a moderate donation of R200, you can have your own portrait sketched; your face will form part of the growing display at the centre (before it is returned to you later),” explains the DHC’s Stuart Talbot.
On Saturday 10 October, the Denis Hurley Centre will also be publicly launching the National Homeless Manifesto, a document shaped by homeless people themselves. The Manifesto will be publicly given to key political parties who have been invited to the DHC to engage with the homeless community at a Town Hall type meeting later this month.
The portraits will go up on display at the DHC as part of an Exhibition of Portraits and sketches by Stuart Talbot and other artists. The exhibition is curated by Kenneth Shandu of Unlearn to Learn, a long- time friend of the DHC, so that politicians and voters can think about who our neighbours are on the streets.
World Homeless Day is observed every year on 10 October to draw attention to the needs of the global homeless community. As we approach municipal elections in South Africa, the Denis Hurley Centre wants to keep issues around Homelessness firmly on the political agenda for voters and politicians to grapple with; and to raise awareness around issues pertaining to homelessness and to advocate for dignified viable alternatives.
“Come be part of it on Saturday. Bring a friend, bring your family, come see the faces and hear the voices for yourself. No need to book; just turn up. Safe parking (R25 cash) behind the Cathedral,” says Talbot.
