Khoisan artwork ‘link’ with Castle
AS PART of the Cape of Good Hope Castle’s 350th anniversary commemoration, an exhibition of Khoisan art will be on display at the City landmark.
Comprising 377 art pieces by Robert Petersen, Samuel Damons and Ishmael Thyssen, the exhibition opened this week. The artists hail from Lavender Hill, St Montague Village and Hillview.
“The reason we felt it important to have this exhibition here is firstly to make a direct link between the emergence of the Castle as a place and institution with the Khoisan communities who were the inhabitants of this environment. The Castle therefore represents a physical symbol of their displacement and destruction as a people,” said Mongezi Guma, a member of the Cape of Good Hope Castle’s 350th anniversary commemoration committee.
It was important for young people of today to have access to indigenous knowledge, he said, as he referred to the Khoisan rock art forming part of the exhibition. “The rock art tells us stories that are hardly available on public record today.”
Petersen said the exhibition meant a lot for them and it was significant that their artwork was on display. “My work centres around Khoisan art and I use only recycled material. I do it on board, tile, marble or anything,” he said.
Moeshfieka Botha, from the Castle’s Heritage Culture and Education division, said she went to investigate after some residents told of the artwork done by artists living in poor conditions.
“They produced art of such a high standard, not withstanding their circumstances. The Castle is still viewed by many as a bastion of colonialism. We are truly committed to letting this space serve as a platform for open dialogue and healing.”