As the curtain comes down on Autism Awareness Month, Autism Western Cape recently held its annual art expo at the Artscape Theatre.
The Artists on a Spectrum expo, this year themed “Beyond the Label”, started in 2019 and aims to expose autistic adults to the art world and have them on a platform with other artists who are not on the spectrum.
Autism Western Cape is a Woodstock-based organisation that provides support, advisory counselling, training and advocacy services for the autistic community as well as allied healthcare practitioners within the field.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological condition that affects a person’s ability to communicate, interact and process sensory information.
Zaida Frank, Operations Manager at Autism Western Cape, says the event took place on Thursday 6 April.
“Artists on a Spectrum bring together autistic artists from diverse backgrounds and create a platform for us to showcase their work and provide an opportunity for their artwork to be represented in an inclusive environment.”
She explains that for the past two years, the event was hosted by Artscape Theatre.
According to Frank, this year was their biggest installation to date.
“We had 109 pieces and 16 artists. Our youngest artist was nine years old and the oldest was 62. There wasn’t a restriction on age. People started sending in their artwork and we decided we have to give them this platform. We had our biggest installation, the biggest crowd and ministers in attendance.”
She says they also try and provide a space for artists who are not on the spectrum to also exhibit their work.
“We have a feature called Friends of Autism. These consist of three or four artists who are not on the spectrum but who support the autistic movement. They will create work under the Friends of Autism banner.”
Breaking the stigma
Artist Nicole Henn explains that she has been part of the expo since its inception.
“My artworks are between abstract and surreal landscapes. I am so happy and grateful to be a part of this exhibition.”
Henn says she had to overcome many challenges over years.
“There are some things I am still working on, but that is not stopping me from achieving and breaking the stigma. The advice I can give is to take your time. It will be worth it in the end, just be yourself.”
Frank says artworks will be on show at various exhibitions around the city.
“We hold on to the artwork for the rest of the year and then exhibit them at different exhibitions, if not, the work goes back to the artist. This year we added QR codes to the artworks so people could scan the code and contact artists directly.”
Implementation lacking
Frank says to commemorate the month, various event were held to honour and raise awareness for people on the spectrum.
Frank says more needs to be done to offer support to those on the spectrum as they still face various challenges.
“A massive challenge is the inaccessibility to resources and services that can help them adequately contribute towards society. Everything that they need to come by is either costly or out of reach. In rural communities, it is always difficult because there are not a lot of diagnostic hospitals. The clinicians in rural arrears charge thousands for a diagnosis.
“Our policies are brilliant. Our inclusive strategies and national development strategies are brilliant, but the implementations thereof are not happening. The government is saying in 2030 all these goals should have been realised, but we are already in 2023. So we are seven years away from that and it is so far from being realised.”
Looking ahead
The Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) has allocated R61 million in 2023-2024 to 62 social service organisations that provide support to people and children with disabilities and their families. These include organisations supporting those with autism and their families.
Frank says while the government has made strides in trying to include and assist them, more financial support is needed.
“When you look at it, the budgets don’t always align. When you employ staff, and you try to retain the staff you can’t exactly keep them with a salary that doesn’t increase. When the government says they are going to keep the salaries the same, or they say they will only increase the social workers’ salaries then what about everyone else? The DSD is our biggest and consistent funder so we rely heavily on them for most of our funding needs.”
- Visit https://www.autismwestern cape.org.za/about-us-2/ for details.
