Why Should Children Be Seen, Not Heard?
nqabisa faku (? – ?)
Discover Nqabisa Faku, a South African artist and mental health advocate whose work explores spirituality, identity, and culture. Renowned for pieces like 'A Spiritual Death by a Difference,' she blends art and activism.
African Leadership Academy (Roodepoort, South Africa)
Discover African Leadership Academy in South Africa! Explore inspiring stories of future leaders & innovation shaping the continent. A unique learning experience showcasing leadership development & Pan-African collaboration. #AfricanLeadership #SouthAfrica
The inspiration behind this art piece is a poem by Jennifer Davids titled “A poem to my mother”. The poem is about a young girl trying to get her mother to pay attentionto her as she recites her poem. Yet, her mother is very focused on attending to laundry. The composition shows a disconnection between the mother and daughter. The brick wallsymbolises this in the backyard of their house. The mother is from a distance to her daughter, and she is vigorously at work washing clothes. Her daughter is in the foreground facing theviewer, and she is smaller than her mother in the background. This depiction shows how doing laundry is more important to the mother than taking the time to hear what her daughter is tryingto get her to pay attention to through her poetic writing. The concept of this art piece is about the English proverb that says: “Children should be seen and not be heard”, which every parentshould challenge. Children are born into families to be vessels of change as they can heal the pain from generational trauma, continue the legacy of their families and help make a differencein the world. The medium used is pencil crayons.
About this artwork
- Title: Why Should Children Be Seen, Not Heard?
- Artist: nqabisa faku
- Year: 2015
- Format: Portrait
- Copyright status: Under copyright
- Where to see it: African Leadership Academy
- Color hue: Green Spectrum
- Color intensity: Balanced

