Kidsweek at Concourt

 I found an email in my blog inbox last week from the Director of the Constitutional Court Educational Programme, Paula Rainha - just in time to take up her invitation to come and sketch at the Constitutional Court with some children from Hillbrow. It was the last day of their Kidsweek, a holiday programme (coincidentally started years ago by a friend, Monique Dalka) where they came to learn and draw some of the aspects of the court. This was a sketch of a group of the kids who were drawing portraits from a wall of photographs of past and present judges.

They first went into the courtroom, to ask and hear about human rights, our constitution and the history and significance of the buildings. Constitutional Hill used to be the notorious Old Fort Prison Complex where many political activists, including Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Walter Sisulu were detained. Every detail of the court has been thoughtfully and beautifully designed by architects and artists. Two whole books have been published on the buildings and art here: A Light on the Hill and Art and Justice, I won't try and explain it all here...

...but for a start, the angled and mosaiced columns and wire leaf chandeliers in the foyer represent the tree under which African justice has traditionally taken place, transparent, participatory and accessible - which also appears in the Concourt logo. Long may its principles last...

Below is a sketch I did last year on a visit with a friend, of the outside entrance, with the long wooden doors carved by artists and Dumile Feni's 'History' sculpture. One of my very first, nervous urban sketches was done at a book launch here, back in 2008!