DESIGN: Hazel Friedman
THE undisputed winner of the Mail & Guardian’s Not the Pirelli Calendar Prize for 1997 is the calendar put out by the women’s support group, Powa (People Opposing Women Abuse).
A collaborative project between the organisation and the Fine Arts Department at the University of the Witwatersrand, the calendarconsists of provocative images produced in various media and genres. These are accompanied by extracts from feminist writings which confront the issue of women’s abuse.
But instead of resorting to the obvious and simply perpetuating pictures of women as passive victims, the imagery is refreshingly assertive.
The calendar’s overriding message seems to be that while women might continue to be victims of abuse they are no longer prepared to suffer and be still.
“We wanted the calendar to be socially relevant and simultaneously accessible to people across the board,” explains artist and fine arts lecturer Penny Siopis who, together with fellow artist and Wits lecturer Jo Ractliffe, co-ordinated the project.
“The workshop phase took several months in terms of discussion and design and the project was tackled with enormous enthusiasm by the students – both collaboratively and on an individual basis,” according to Siopis.
“The process was cathartic for some students who had had personal experience of abuse, and an eye-opener for those who were stunned by the stories related to them by representatives from Powa.”