COSPE, an Italian NGO working in the Lubombo region since 1999, celebrated the end of its four-year community-based response to HIV/AIDS in the rural areas, co-funded by the European Union. After hosting beneficiaries, stakeholders and donors, in a morning seminar aimed at sharing the project’s achievements and challenges, COSPE held an open public evening event at House on Fire.
Read more about the event here.
The event, themed ‘ART’, was an evening dedicated to the potential of arts and culture in the socio-economic development of Swaziland. This was done in collaboration with Yebo! Art Gallery and Rooted Soulz. Over 100 people attended the event, which took off with the first public screening of the documentary ‘Still fighting’, an inspiring COSPE-EU production based on the project experiences in the Lubombo region. Project beneficiaries featuring in the film and present in the documentary premiere were invited to talk to the audience on their personal experiences regarding living with HIV/AIDS.
The event was also the occasion to present the soon to be published ‘ART’ book, a compilation of Swazi visual art and poetry; the fruit of the collaboration between COSPE, Yebo!, and Rooted Soulz.
The book, which was on display, will feature new work by many artists based in Swaziland, becoming the first printed collection of contemporary Swazi art!
Yebo! Art Gallery, represented by Aleta Armstrong and Khulekani Msweli, gave an interesting art talk about Yebo’s work and the importance of further promotion and nurturing of visual arts in the country. Rooted Soulz Director, Themba Mavuso, also had the opportunity to address the crowd, before poets such as The Last Man and Qhibo were given the floor.
The event was further enriched by an open invitation to local talent to participate; Plateau Roots, a promising reggae band from Siteki played throughout the event, spontaneously interacting with poets and live theatre from the former Red Cross drama group. The evening included a taste of organic food prepared and brought all the way from the Shewula Mountain Camp Project.