Retired German businessman turned artist Joerg Duske, better known as SaySay.Love, will donate the proceeds of his inaugural solo photographic exhibition,The Gift of Water, to Hout Bay’s Lalela, a non-profit arts project.
SaySay says he wants to inspire young people to appreciate art and photography and perhaps even make a career out of them.
He also seeks to use art to communicate social concerns.
Lalela’s Oliver Nurock said: “We’re delighted and honoured to have been selected by SaySay as his vision of promoting arts education in underprivileged communities is similar to Lalela’s mission of providing educational arts for at-risk youth to spark creative thinking and awaken the entrepreneurial spirit.”
The Gift of Water emphasises the beauty and value of water at a time when Cape Town faces the very real prospect of its taps running dry.
“Water, in itself, contains so much beauty. If we could all take the time to really see this, we’d be half way there to conserving it,” he said.
Yesterday, SaySay hosted a Christmas party attended by 100 children from Lalela at Kronendal Primary School.
Lalela’s Cat Rieper called it an “incredibly generous, most appreciated fun-and sugar-filled opportunity for our younger learners to be spoilt at Christmas”.
SaySay.Love famously left the business world in order to embrace his passion of “creating and building a more meaningful life”.
“As humans we are generally fearful of change, yet change is the only constant.
“However, knowing that you’re stepping into something deeper, a journey that has the ability to impact others for the better, makes it somehow less daunting,” he said.
“We all have the ability to change other people’s lives and circumstances. As a businessman driven by profits in my previous career, I believe it is not only a need but a responsibility to ensure that knowledge is passed on to the next generation.”
