“A Journey through Pax Kaffraria” Pamphlet
by Sara Kowalski and
This community-engaged transcreation project centers on Pax Kaffraria, a monumental work by Botswana-born artist Meleko Mokgosi. Through the interplay of several large “multi-canvas chapters,” the work examines the complex relationship between the ideas of national identity and post-colonial nations in Africa.
Specifically, Sara Kowalski and Marta Kontny designed a museum guide for young viewers who visited the MAG with their parents and grandparents during a Spring Break event for families in the city of Rochester. The guide involved intralingual translation and adaptation, seeking to make the language of a complex artwork accessible and relatable to the targeted audience. It was a para-professional project in the sense that Sara and Marta worked with the MAG as their “client.” To carry out the project, they maintained a high level of communication with Andrew Cappetta, Assistant Curator of Academic Programs as well as Marlene Hamann-Whitmore, McPherson Director of Academic Programs at MAG. They learned to revise their guide several times, both textually and visually, based on the feedback on the drafts and information such as the visitor population and the objective of the family event.
On the day of the special event, Sara and Marta got to distribute the guides to the visitors, mingling with the children and their families and witnessing how the guide worked in the real world. Find the Pax Kaffraria pamphlet that they created in a PDF format below.
Pamphlet-Draft-4-1-1The Pamphlet with Reflection Notes by Sara Kowalski
Final-version-with-commentary