 A further component of the Ford Foundation funding is for the piloting of HIV/AIDS interventions in the Phumani sites, using the various PAR (Participatory Action Research) methodologies such as Paper Prayers and Photo Voice. These methodologies are implemented via trainers/facilitators from Artist Proof and various local and international institutions.
Various links exist with higher education institutions, both locally and abroad (UJ, Wits, Michigan, Brandeis and Rutgers), specifically around research into various themes relevant to the income generation and AIDS Action programmes, as well as the development and promotion of Photo Voice and Paper Prayers as methods in Participatory Action Research (PAR). In other words, there is institutional collaboration on the subject of the use and potential of artistic and creative methods as PAR methodologies.
This furthermore links the Doctoral research of the founder and non-executive director of Phumani Paper, who is also the Executive Director of APS, Kim Berman, on the role of art in social change. Given the focus of this thesis (which will also culminate in the production of various publications), the value of an investigation into the linkages between the creative process and social scientific enquiry (and action, as envisaged by PAR), becomes clear.
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