Pupils of the Department of Art and Technology at Ningizimu School for the Severely Mentally Handicapped in Montclair in Durban have spent the past year producing a series of banners.

These will form the Umcebo Banner Exhibition, a project commissioned by the French Institute and administered and facilitated by the Alliance Française.

The banners depict themes and issues in the lives of the pupils. They are a combination of bull denim, recycled cans, plastic as well as glass, crystal and plastic beadwork and those involved in the various banners have been paid for their work. This forms part of the workshop/income generation component of the art and technology programme, which has been in existence for the past eleven years.

The banners will tour through Africa in 2004, and finally be exhibited and auctioned in Paris. The money from this auction will then be put in a trust fund, which will be used for the further educational/training needs of the pupils of Ningizimu School.

The opening takes place in the Durban Art Gallery on December 9 and runs until January 25.