Avatars Mpumalanga

For one of the early workshops, we asked participants to create avatars for themselves, encouraging them to be as creative and imaginative as possible. We find that often you come up with the best ideas when you are required to think outside of the box and let go of notions of how things should be done.

Avatars are icons or figures that represent you as a person. An avatar embodies certain qualities that you have, or perhaps qualities that you wish to have. For the Mpumalanga group, we asked them to create superhero avatars for themselves, and we asked the Northern Cape group to imagine fantastical or hybrid plants and trees as their avatars. Both groups were required to use metaphor to explain specific qualities, for example a thorny plant could represent a strong person, or special goggles could represent the ability to see into the future.

We explained that their avatars should be descriptive of who they are, their environment, and their strengths and weaknesses. This was also an exercise in focusing on the personal and emotive side of participants and their projects.

Once each avatar was defined, we asked the Mpumalanga participants to choose a ‘side kick’ from the group, someone whose skills or qualities would complement their own, and who they could form a strong team with. For the Northern Cape group, we asked them to consider their plant avatars in terms of their wider eco systems – what is the condition of the soil? Is there enough light and water? How do you grow in relation to the other plants?

This was in aid of developing rapport amongst the group, and to highlight the importance of working collaboratively and recognising areas that you can develop by learning from someone else.

We found that some participants struggled with this exercise, because they were not used to thinking metaphorically or describing themselves in abstract terms. For example, some participants from the Northern Cape described their favourite plants in specific detail, but were unable to link that information to the context of the project.

Below is a list of each participants avatar and their explanations:


Amanda’s avatar represents her love for music, and how it can change the atmosphere of a space into something good and harmonious. She has also depicted herself with long hair, as it states in the Bible, there is power and wisdom in hair, so her hair goes all the way down to the earth. The music and hair are both healers for the earth.

Bonny K’s avatar represents his skill as a sewer and tailor, and his love for African printed fabric.
Nosipho created an avatar for herself that looks very similar to her, it is short and has long dreadlocks. Her avatar has special goggles to see beyond obstacles and overcome challenges. The red hat represents her artistic side, and her dreadlocks show her African identity. The white jumpsuit symbolises a blank canvas- something that is flexible and ready to absorb new information. Her avatar is wearing sneakers, to give her better balance to work hard.
Penelope’s avatar was a figure with big, multicoloured wings and webs drawn on the body. The webs represent connections to other people, and how technology has enabled this further, for example, throughout lockdown she has used the internet to connect people and share skills. It also shows the need for more collaboration and cooperation; just like a web, if one string is weakened or removed, the whole system will collapse. Her avatar’s power is to connect different people based on their needs and skills.

Terrence’s avatar is surrounded by a number of objects that represent him and his life. the story book represents the reading classes that they have at his organisation. His community is painted on a canvas, where students are trying to grab a light bulb; this shows him as an artist and an arts facilitator, sharing skills with his community. The butterfly wings demonstrate his passion for art.
Vanrooy chose to create a female avatar for himself. He is concerned with how the world is being run, and he believes people are reluctant to approach things in a new way.His hope is that one day people will elect female presidents, because the world needs care and compassion and women are strong and love unconditionally.
His avatar has a symbol on her chest that represents unity and humanity.