First advertising school for Soweto

“Today is a significant day for Soweto as history has been made in this impoverished township. I thank everyone who has made this dream come true for these youngsters and for all of us,” said an elated Mosa Ngcobo, Soweto Imagination Lab coordinator.

“I am appealing to all production companies and agencies to support these kids by giving them an internship which will help them polish their skills and enhance their inspiration and creativity,” Ngcobo added.

Come September, these students will be placed on internships in agencies and companies that can then extend their employment on a learnership basis for another year and ideally provide on-going support, coaching and mentoring.

Fast-tracking transformation

Gordon Cook, national school navigator of Vega the Brand Communications School, said: “We give youngsters a rare opportunity to formalise their talent – something that will definitely open a whole range of career opportunities which they do not know about.”

Established in 2003, the Imagination Lab project has been aimed at fast-tracking transformation within an industry that many observers believe is still largely ‘not representative' of the present situation in South Africa.

“One of the highlights of the Imagination Lab is that it exposes learners to a variety of disciplines, including photography, film, multimedia, design and art directing,” Cook said.

To date, the Imagination Lab boasts two urban campuses in Durban and Johannesburg (Sandton), and three community campuses in KwaMashu (Durban), Alexandra and now in Soweto.

Apart from Media, Advertising, Publishing, Printing and Packaging (MAPPP)-SETA that fully supports the Imagination Lab, agencies such as FCB, Old Shanghai and Net#work BBDO, and the SABC have also financially supported the project.

Breeding ground for new talent

Furthermore, Primedia Limited and Monitoring SA are also seeing the opportunities for using Imagination Labs as a ‘breeding ground' for new talent with a focus on their particular disciplines.

Tetelo Ntatudi Dlamini (20), one of the students, told Bizcommunity.com: “I thank Imagination Lab for giving us a platform to prove that despite our colour of skin, we do have talent but we just do not know where to go, as there are no opportunities.”