Poem by Comfort ARROWSA PCTW

Comfort, an ARROWSA Bechet participant, performs the poem that he wrote inspired by the Climate Crisis. This forms part of the Phone Call to the World project led by Scottish Youth Theatre and funded by British Council. 

Perish! drama created by ARROWSA youth PCTW

As part of the Phone Call to the World project led by Scottish Youth Theatre and funded by British Council, ARROWSA youth collaborated with South Roots International in drama workshop during the October 2021 holidays. Vincent Salanji filmed and edited a drama that the group devised based on littering. 

Dance movement Come Closer PCTW

ARROWSA youth, Angelique, Zainub, Sinenhlanhla and Aleze create a dance-movement to an original song 'Come closer' created in workshops with ARROWSA youth and South Roots International creatives during the Phone Call to the World October 2021 workshops in Durban. The song workshop was led by Sue-Livia van Wyk and is sung by Monique Mukendi, Noluthando Shandu, Sphelele, Sue Livia van Wyk and Intomibikile Khena. The song is a creative response to environment issues and is a song of inclusivity of all people - calls us to come together, inviting all to the table, and take note of what is happening. The project was led by Scottish Youth Theatre and funded by British Council. Filmed by Vincent Salanji of ARROWSA. Edited by Vincent Salanji of ARROWSA and Shanette Martin of South Roots International. The sound engineer was Brendan Nicholls

 

David Oddie, founder of ARROW and Indra,  and former director writes of the passing of  Archbishop Emeritus Tutu                     and how he influenced the beginnings of  ARROW.    The latest news from The Indra Congress  The Indra Collective A network of artists, educators and others sharing a commitment to use the arts as a resource for conflict transformation and to help young people navigate their way through challenging situations and settings. Dear Friends of Indra Desmond Tutu.  Died Dec 26th 2021   Desmond Tutu was the  inspiration for the  original ARROW programme (Art: a Resource for  Reconciliation Over the World) in 2003.  His courageous, deeply moral stance against apartheid  in South Africa made him a legend in his own lifetime, his voice reverberating around the world  denouncing racist injustice. He was willing to put his life on the line again and again in standing  up for what he believed was right.  He supported the BDS campaign as a non-violent means to  enable racist South Africa wake up and become aware of the self-defeating stupidity of apartheid,  as well as its immoral foundations and practice. After the collapse of the apartheid regime, President Mandela asked him to lead the Truth and  Reconciliation Committee, which involved Tutu listening day by day, sometimes in floods of tears,  to the stories of people whose lives had been cruelly devastated.  For Tutu, reconciliation was not  a simple, easy letting go, it was a profound struggle which understood that acknowledgement and  acceptance were  the first but necessary steps in moving forward. The Truth and Reconciliation hearings provided a platform for deep listening, for the sharing of  people’s stories and experiences of the apartheid years.  This initiative inspired the vision and founding  intention of ARROW; to explore how the arts could provide a non-violent resource for reconciliation  and conflict transformation.  One of the proudest days of my life was the opening of the Desmond Tutu Centre on the campus of  what is now Marjon University. Although Tutu himself was unable to attend, Mary Lange and some  of the ARROWSA group went to Cape Town to interview ‘the Arch’, a memorable experience for them  all. The management of Marjon at the time had understood the symbolic relevance of Tutu in relation  to the Marjon mission – an understanding, sadly, not shared by ensuing administrative regimes. In later years Tutu’s moral voice still echoed around the world.  He was deeply distressed on visiting  Israel and Palestine, commenting ‘that at least the white apartheid regime wanted us for our labour’.   As years earlier he had supported the BDS campaign in South Africa, he now voiced his support for  the BDS campaign in Palestine.  As he memorably put it, ‘to be neutral in a situation of injustice is to  choose the side of the oppressor.’ As well as the serious intention to provide a platform for sharing stories, celebration and fun have  been major components of various ARROW/Indra Congress events over the years; resonating with  Tutu’s infectious laughter and irrepressible humour, a trait he shared with that other icon of spiritual  and moral courage, the Dalai Lama. The world is indeed a better place for Desmond Tutu living here. David Oddie Dec 2021

 Greetings from ARROWSA Chair 

Luthando Ngema

Seasons greetings to all my ARROWSA family and friends! 2021 was an eventful year and I am so grateful to be part of ARROWSA with all the great talent that ARROWSA cultivates. 2022 please be a happy new year. We just want to dance, move, perform and nurture our new ARROWSA garden. Thank you for all your hard work. 

Ukhisimuzi omuhle.

Phone Call to the World - "Call to the World" SRI Durban Tour to ARROWSA

South Roots International trip to ARROWSA 

- a creative collaboration as part of 
Phone Call to the World  and a digital contribution to the Scottish Youth Theatre COP26 exhibition in Glasgow as funded by British Council

Edited by Shanette Martin, SRI

#creation #reverberation #togetherforourplanet #theclimateconnection #indigenousknowledgesystems #artscultureheritageforsocialchange

Production day edited by Vincent Salanji ARROWSA - Phone Call to the World

Phone call to the World production day 

with ARROWSA Bechet 

and SRI 

at Bechet High Durban

Video edited by Vincent Salanji of ARROWSA 

@arrowsa.artpeace @southrootsint. @scottishyouththeatre #ARROWSABechet #ARROWSA #SouthRootsInternational #Scottishyouththeatre #PhoneCalltotheWorld #COP26 #Togetherforourplanet #TheClimateConnection