The Maboneng Township Arts Experience – a non-profit destination development initiative – has introduced virtual tours in Johannesburg’s Alexandra Township for those who cannot travel to South Africa amid numerous travel restrictions and regulations.
“The organisation turns homes in townships into attractions and communities into creative districts. We train and upskill homeowners and families to create a warm, intimate, creative environment between townships, rural areas and cities, for locals and international visitors alike. The virtual tours help keep employment going,” said Founder of the Maboneng Township Arts Experience, Siphiwe Ngwenya.
As an artist himself, Ngwenya struggled to exhibit his works earlier in his career and ended up exhibiting in homes and in the streets of his local community.
This had eventually led to the creation of the Maboneng Township Arts Experience which helped solve the problem of artists looking for space, families looking for work and the township looking for its place in the world, Ngwenya pointed out.
Over the past two decades, Maboneng Township Arts Experience has created experiences in South African communities that have led a multitude of visitors from all over the world to these new centres of culture.
Ngwenya explained that Maboneng was a Sesotho word meaning “a place of lights”.
“After being called Dark City because it had no electricity, Alexandra Township residents nicknamed their township to Alexandra Maboneng.”
The organisation’s programmes contribute substantially to training, women and youth empowerment, income generation, as well as the advancement of inclusive and responsible tourism in South Africa.
“The ongoing programmes impact the cultural, social, economic and environmental conditions of all participants. They transform the local tourism economy and improve the quality of life for the long run. We do not just do poverty tourism, we do development tourism,” said Ngwenya.
“Our community members who are partners in the experiences earn a living from the tours. Their children are inspired on every tour to follow a career in the arts and in tourism.”
Click HERE to access the virtual tours.
