Fresh slant for activism

With a selfie frame, QR codes that link to YouTube videos and a "solidarity booth" - a repository for written thoughts and feelings - the gender-based violence installation at Durban's Kwa Muhle museum is clearly aimed at millennials.

Opening today, the exhibition marks the start of South Africa's annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

"We need to find a way for young people not to think that Aids or gender activism is a yawn," says Larissa Klazinga, regional policy and advocacy manager: South Africa Aids Health Organisation.

"We need to add their voices to the conversation. It can't just be business as usual."

Klazinga said one of the primary criticisms was the limited duration of the anti-abuse campaign.

"Why shouldn't activism last all year around? It needs to have a lasting impact.

"Kwa Muhle museum is a space used by school children daily.

"We will have a range of activities around the country, but we have put our resources into this exhibition, which will continue into the future."

The 'Breaking the Chains' installation sits within the Museum of HIV Memory and Learning that was launched in July last year.

Curator of both initiatives Bren Brophy said that the HIV museum had been a great success.

"Within six months of the project opening we had 17,000 school kids come through. And they didn't just waft in and out, they spent quality time with a peer educator."

A march from the City Hall to the museum, organised by the eThekwini municipality, will follow the launch.

"The installation is also a contribution to the community at large," said Klazinga.

"We want them to add their voices to the conversation and become part of the story."