Umhlaba Wolahleko/ Prodigal Land is based in Johannesburg, in collaboration with filmmaker and scholar Mocke Jansen van Veuren and his students at the Wits school of Film & Television. The project will build on the ongoing collaboration between the school and the Go Green Community Project and Prince Rashid Juma. Go Green is a community-led land reclamation project in Eldorado Park, where the local community is engaged in the reclamation of unused public land.
Mocke Jansen van Veuren and the students in the Film & Television Department at Wits have, over time, developed various film and performance projects in parts of communities in Eldorado Park. It is through their contact with the land reclamation project in Eldorado Park that the main collaboration takes shape. Together with the leader(s) in the community, we will curate a performative installation in one of the reclaimed pieces of land in that community.
In October 2022, this phase will host a performative and film intervention in the reclaimed park within the Eldorado Park community. Such interventions have been hosted since the park was reclaimed from derelict land. As well as performances by local artists, poets and community organizers, a documentary film about this reclamation project will be screened.
Other collaborators and artists include: Bhekani Shabalala, Sifiso Khumalo, Mandisa Nzama, Madala Kunene, Malume uTshawe, Zayaan Khan, Russel Hlongwane, Nelisiwe Xaba, Qondiswa James