There Are No Silos When We Are All Suffering: Interviews and Reflections on Ubuntu and the Arts in South Africa during COVID-19

Abstract

This article will draw upon some of the creative work being done in South Africa from March 2020 through December 2021, during the time of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide pandemic, by artists working across disciplines in education, community, health, and mental health. The authors had been located in Johannesburg, South Africa, in early 2020, when their stay was cut short by the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the worldwide border shutdowns that followed as they were recalled to the USA in March 2020. They have remained in communication and contact with their colleagues in South Africa, and this article is based upon these observations and interactions. This article will describe some of the initiatives and programs developed by artists in the country as well as by the faculty in the Drama for Life program at the University of the Witwatersrand and the Art Therapy program at the University of Johannesburg. These initiatives have been used toward survival and healing in this liminal space of the COVID-19 crises.