#DearUs, Matric 2020| A WhatsApp Exhibition Platform

In August 2020 I was selected as one of the five winners of the Digital Art Curator Exhibition Commission hosted by Fak'ugesi African Digital Art Innovation Festival. The exhibition #DearUs, Matric 2020| A WhatsApp Exhibition Platform. #DearUs, Matric 2020 spoke to the lives of 6 South African teenagers living through a global pandemic at what should be the pinnacle of their schooling career. It centralises a moment shared by many, matriculation, while allowing the audience to identify and empathise with individual stories from the matric 2020 class using a platform that is familiar to many - WhatsApp.

These stories are collaborative creations by the students and three visual and digital artists; Mmakhotso Lamola, Aluta Null, and Barry Christianson, and six matric students; Prisca, Melody, Nathan, Lwanga, Mihlali, and Zenande.

The exhibition included studio photography, animated videos,3D spatial fabulations, and a podcast initially distributed through WhatsApp.

Below is an archive of elements, processes, and ideas from the exhibition captured here by Mmakhotso Lamola.

To learn more about #DearUs, Matric 2020 and the Fak'ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival please click here: https://fakugesi.co.za/dearus-matric-2020/

CREDITS

Cover image by Aluta Null

Promo video (At top of page) by Samora Magwa