Helen Martins, the story of an 'Outsider Artist'

Arts & Culture recently attended the Athol Fugard Festival at Nieu-Bethesda in the heart of the Great Karoo where we made our debut entrance to the real Owl House of Helen Martins.

In the book, Fugard presents 'Miss Helen' as unusual old Afrikaner woman living alone in a secluded little town creating odd concrete sculptures of owls, mermaids, wise men (people), camels and calling them her 'Mecca'.  Due to fears of her "idolatry" and her self-imposed exile from the Church, local pastor, Marius Byleveld wants to send her to some old-age home because he considers her 'art' public nuisance.  The oddity of her artworks leads the whole community to believe that she has gone mad due to her husband's death.  The attempts to move her to 'Old Folks' home is foiled with much needed support of Elsa - a young woman from Cape Town.