The Imbali Visual Literacy Project was created as a project of Women For Peace in 1988, when it became clear from the results of a children’s national art competition that children who had little or no access to art at school showed extremely poor perceptual skills.

The project attempted to address this inequality in basic visual literacy, by developing strategies for training teachers with no arts background in poorly resourced schools, enabling them to teach art and creative education in such contexts.

This work still continues because although arts and culture is now an official learning area in the school curriculum very few teachers have any formal training in this area. However, in the past ten years, Imbali has in addition responded directly to another issue in the country – the urgent need to confront poverty.

Imbali has therefore developed its mission and extended its scope of activity towards creative skills-development and training, in specific income-generating activities such as craft and design.

Imbali was a finalist in the Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) awards 2010 for our partnership with one of our funders Diamscan SA.

Imbali was chosen as a finalist in the Arts & Culture Trust Art Education Project of the Year 2006 Award.

Imbali students and graduates have won a number of awards including the following:

• In 2011 Sello Madlane won first prize in the textile category for his textile designs in the CIT:Y Student awards. Thato Sokoto, Daniel Mwale and Masetho Moholo won second and third prizes in this category

• In 2009 Daniel Mwale, Lolo Moholo Katlego Chuene and Didimalang Selogiloe won second and third prize for their ceramic vases in the CIT:Y Student awards
  
  

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Imbali would be unable to operate without the vital support of our funders and partners over the years. They make it possible to bring art education and crafts training to innumerable young people and teachers who would otherwise certainly not meet such opportunities in their daily lives.

We would like to thank all our current and past funders as well as our board who work tirelessly to ensure the ongoing success of the project.