Community Mural Project
Niamh Walsh-Vorster
Photography, especially in the digital age, has often been regarded as a second-class citizen in the art world. The assumption is that it is quick, lacks thought and process, and is completed with a single click. This mural project challenges that notion. The impact of the images—each crafted with the professional vision, distinct style, and aesthetic of the individual photographers—reveals a final collection of community faces created with artistic intent and curatorial framing. Large and looming, the faces confront passersby with a myriad of gazes. The goal was to create 100 portraits, but we ended up making 200. The final wall includes 400 images, layering individual identities into a broader collective presence. It presents both a challenge and an invitation, depending on how one perceives it, asking viewers to consider what a community looks like in its connections and flux. The portraits showcase people with diverse backgrounds and experiences: supporters of #FreePalestine, those who "kind of understand Elon Musk," familiar local figures like Thami Shandu, the Inanda tour guide, and KZNSA staff members Leo Janga and Barista Pieta Mpanza. There are new friendships and young love, expectant mothers, an Irish man from Belfast who moved to England during The Troubles, a family celebrating five months of their first child’s life, a hitchhiker from South America, and international artists from Syria, Colombia, and Germany. Among them are newly naturalized U.S.-born South African citizens, Jomba! festival performers, curators, a teenager with a crush, and people who have lost much yet continue to smile. Over two days, with the voluntary help of six photographers: Paige Furness, Niamh Walsh-Vorster, Paulo Menezes, Gift Banda and Gabriela Valdespino, the project came to life. The project was an initiative by the KZNSA Exhibition Sub-Committee in partnership with ArtsResearchLab and Contemporary Archive Project. Street artists: Ewok and Kev7 Special thanks to KZNSA staff including Njabulo Nyawo for painting the wall white in preparation for pasting. Exhibition sub-committee: Thobi Shange, Rachel Baasch and Rohini Amratlal ArtBank Interns: Siddiqa Ballim (ArtsResearchLab) and Jerry Beaver (Contemporary Archive Project).
More Projects
close icon
Instagram Facebook-f

Hi There, my name is Mandisa

Mandisa Buthelezi is a photographer and film director/producer who was raised in Durban and is currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa. With a vast portfolio that communicates the rural voice, and an appreciation and respect for the culture that has informed her perspective, she is keen on providing photographic and film content that is culturally centered and explores notions of identity and spirituality.

Cataloguing and documenting African culture through visual art has become an important component of her work through assignments.

Hi There, my name is Lindo

Photographer

Growing up in the township of KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal and attending primary school in the same town is one of the strongest memories I have about my neighbourhood. The times I spent with my late grandmother Miss Dombi Chiliza and the people I shared my life with at that moment in time in my early childhood, influence the work I create. “I can’t imagine a world without photography – capturing a unique moment in time that will never be repeated” (Gigi Williams).

Hi There, my name is Niamh

Co-Founder & Programme Director

Niamh Walsh-Vorster is a Durban-based writer, independent photographer, and creative producer. She graduated in 2014 with a BJourn from Rhodes University in Makhanda, South Africa.
Niamh is co-founder and editor of the award-winning e-zine, Ja. Magazine. She has exhibited photographic work in group shows at galleries, and independently in various public spaces. In 2016, Niamh was the recipient of a BASA Arts Journalism Award for her review in Ja. Magazine. She has worked with the Durban Center for Photography under the leadership of legendary AfraPix photographer, Peter McKenzie. She was part of the third Incubator Programme at The Market Photo Workshop, 2017 – 2018 in Johannesburg, mentored by Angela Buckland. More recently, Niamh was project manager of the ARTLAB Mentorship programme, which worked with 30 KZN-based creatives in photography, design, and fashion. She was mentor to 10 emerging photographers.