The mural was finally complete. Nabeel Petersen and his crew, Raak Wys, refused to let gang violence deter them. On their first attempt to paint the walls of Pool 4 Change, an NGO in Seawinds, the group of creatives were forced to abandon their work when gunfire erupted around them. Adamant to honour their commitment to the Cape Town community, they later returned to finish the project. But before laying down their spray cans, passersby posed a request. The park nearby bore little resemblance to a child’s playground. Two people had recently been killed there. Could they bring life to this place too?
And so the next piece of street art was set in motion. Working alongside locals on murals is Petersen's forte. “Raak Wys came together with the purpose of changing the minds of South Africans around art and who gets to appreciate, participate, and contribute,” he says. The collective utilises the strengths of renowned creatives and activists, like illustrator Leigh Cupido and graffiti artist Chad Hanning, to reach out to areas around the Western Cape. “There’s a lot of people calling out to say we need colour in our spaces,” Cupido says.
Raak Wys has also collaborated with Lawrence House, an orphanage in Woodstock, and Cedar High School in Mitchells Plain, among others. As their murals expose others to the power of art, Raak Wys awakens the consciousness of communities who’ve been marginalised. “We want our art to make people feel there is more than grey blocks on walls,” Cupido says. “There’s a whole place to put your imagination.” Some stories need more than words. Raak Wys is immortalising them on stone.
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