Kaleidoscope Collective on exhibit
Maureen Odubeng | Friday October 10, 2014 16:24
Art lovers will be treated to beautiful artworks by 13 artists from the Gantsi region. Sophie Lalonde of Sophie Lalonde Art said the 13 artists exhibiting are all from the Kuru Art Project, explaining that while only 13 are showcasing at this time, the project has many more artists. She explained that all exhibitors are of Sesarwa descent, and as such their art still concentrates more on their way of life, hence, most of their works features animals.
She further explained that modernisation has seen rock painting being slowly replaced by other mediums such as oil on canvas, prints and others. She added that Basarwa artists for the most part have also adapted to using the new media. She said the artworks on display will be prints and oil on canvas paintings. She said the project, which has been running for a while, encourages artists under its umbrella to create works freely as their way of preserving their culture. Modernisation has taken over, and Basarwa no longer live their traditional nomadic way of life, which saw them move from one place to another in search of animals and water.
Basarwa have now been integrated and they are living in communal land, and have now been introduced to another way of life, which is farming, and rearing animals.
She said the works on display at the exhibition are authentic, explaining that the artists are mostly influenced by their own surroundings. She said that the artists basically paint what they feel, and that they do not have any external influence. Most artists from the Kuru Art Project profile their past through their artworks.
Most of them paint on canvas, and print in a variety of media including lithography, colour reduction lino prints, and monoprints.
Exhibiting artists include Thame Kaaxhe, Sgomo, Gamnqoo, Qhaqhoo, Coxae, and Jan Tcega.
About some of the artists:
Thamae Kaashe
Thamae Kaashe was born in 1971 in Makriel. Thamae combines known animals with imagined ones. He explains that the caricatures of animals come from his childhood memories of hunting trips with his father. He said as a small boy, the animals were enormous and frightening.
Jan Tcega: Jan Tcega was born in 1968 in Kuke, and grew up in D’Kar. He joined the Kuru Art Project in January 2005. Jan Tcega enjoys printmaking. Jan, in his prints, depicts wild animals of the Kalahari, but also features domestic animals, such as goats and dogs. The exhibition is scheduled to run until November 5.