A film, which focuses on a collaborative project between CPUT and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), was recently screened at the Labia Theatre in Cape Town.
We are Water was filmed two years ago and follows a group of students during AfrikaBurn – a community festival which is held in the Tankwa Karoo on an annual basis.
The film places the spotlight on water as a precious resource at a time when climate change is considered one of the biggest challenges facing humanity.
Senior Industrial Design students from CPUT as well as Architectural Technology students participating in the Extended Curriculum Programme participated in the project.
During the festival the students arranged a series of activations in the desert – all of which were aimed at highlighting the importance of water.
One of the features was a water bar, which served water shots to festival-goers while giving them food for thought on the precious resource.
“The film had a very serious message behind it. We experience that message at the moment because we now have serious problems in terms of water shortages in the Western Cape. It was almost a prediction of what was going to come. Climate change has such a big impact on our lives and we don’t always realise that” says senior lecturer, Dr Alettia Chisin.
Chisin said the 2015 Afrikaburn project was the continuation of a project started in 2014 with a Tiger Fish, named Fiscilla, which was designed by senior Industrial Design students.
It was used as an installation piece at a conference in Namibia and was used as a mediating artefact to share the message of climate change with communities along the way.
Fiscilla was also used as an installation piece at Afrikaburn and the film conveys what she represented and captures the end of her journey.
The project was funded by the National Research Foundation, the Research Council of Norway with further support received from CPUT and AHO.
Written by Ilse Fredericks
