“Arts Aweh!” is the youth development programme of Infecting the City. The initiative aims to raise the cultural awareness of young people, develop their levels of cultural consumption, and offer exposure to innovative and multi-disciplinary works of art. Over the course of the festival week each year, ITC hosts hundreds of learners and their accompanying educators from schools outside of the city centre. The intention is to provide a facilitated experience of the ITC festival and to equip local youth with a sense of what has been seen, heard and felt.
The aims of “Arts Aweh!” are to:
- Stimulate, inspire and educate learners;
- Expand learning in the formal school environment;
- Help learners see how art can deal with complex social and environmental issues in interesting and innovative ways;
- Provide learners with the opportunity to attend challenging, cutting-edge performances;
- Equip learners with a sense of the multilayered and multicultural nature of artistic expression in their city; and
- Instil local youth with a sense of ownership over public spaces within the City of Cape Town.