The Form IIs ended Term II with a self-eSTEAM project that asked if they could “activate a space within the school to make a statement about our diversity?”

To start the process, the students were educated on what constitutes public art and were provided with examples of works in South Africa. We were very excited to host Gerhard Marx who presented his design of Fire Walker and spoke to the latest developments around its renovation as a result of the degradation of the 10-metre-tall statue. We also heard from a team of art activists - Taryn Millar, Aarti Shah and Sarah Cairns, who are dedicated to highlighting ecological concerns in their work. An important question arose around one’s footprint and the gravitas and responsibility of creating something that did not exist before. The girls were encouraged to think about the chances of their designs becoming a reality on the campus.

The results were inspiring. Owing to the short time dedicated to the project, the Form IIs could not dally. They researched, interrogated, shared, designed, iterated and modified up to the last moment of the project. Sadly, many came down as soon as they were erected but all was captured and documented on Google sites. Going forward, the ideas with the most potential to represent diversity and what that means within the St Mary’s community, will be approved by ‘the powers that be’ and become actual features on campus.

JANE MCMURRAY
HOD: CULTURALS