Humans’ place in universe explored
Exhibition will run at Sutherland before final show takes place in Cape Town next year
HEMELLIGGAAM (Heavenly Body) is an audio and visual exploration of the existential aspects of the human-environment-astronomy relationship.
The exhibition is open to visitors in Sutherland at the South African Astronomical Observatory’s (SAAO’s) visitors’ centre and the planetarium this month.
The relationship between humanity and the heavens can be explored from multiple perspectives – from the scientific to the mythical to the fantastical.
And that’s what Chapter One of Hemelliggaam or The Attempt To Be Here Now is all about.
At the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) – the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere and among the largest in the world – hard-working astronomers look at the stars under shifting light spectra and uncover mysteries.
In traditional Xhosa-speaking communities, it is believed that when somebody dies, they become an ancestor, wandering among the stars and guarding us from evil spirits, said Temba Matomela, an educator and expert on indigenous astronomy.
So when you see a shooting star coming down you are actually seeing a bad ancestor being kicked out of the celestial sphere – a bad omen.
In Jan Rabie’s sci-fi novel Die Hemelblom (The Sky Flower), the alien Galactic Council sends “sky flowers” to the hopelessly polluted and exploited Earth, which will wither as soon as they cover the whole planet, leaving a clean uninhabited world – an early warning about the dangers of pollution.
All these perspectives and more are captured in Chapter One of Hemelliggaam.
Created by artists Tommaso Fiscaletti and Nic Grobler and curated by Filippo Maggia, it won the 2018 Contemporary African Photography Prize.
“Something archaic radiates from the local community in connection with their science and technology needs.
“This project is exploring this concept through looking at forms of awareness that are already active and cultivating more awareness through conversations, participation and reflection,” said Grobler.
Fiscaletti said: “This mix of contents/visions/information is a way to discover some interesting aspects about the areas we are working on.”
“The project is open to explore possible connections between different things.
“What is really important for us is to create something with no limitations in terms of creative development, that’s moving between physical things to the most open imagination.”
The project has been co-ordinated with the help of Dr Lucia Marchetti and Dr Mattia Vaccari from the University of the Western Cape.
Their role is mainly about liaising with the NRF and the scientific community, providing the artists with connections with the observatories, as well as giving them the astronomer’s perspective on their work.
“This project is forged by both the visionary eyes of Tommaso and Nic, and our more technical knowledge, which is used as input and inspiration by the two artists to do their ‘magic’ pictures and video of the world around us, and to put it in connection with the broader Universe,” said Marchetti.
“Hemelliggaam represents a unique opportunity for us, as professional astronomers, to engage in conversations around the themes of astronomy and space science with the broader public and from the most diverse perspectives.”
The project had its first exhibition in 2018 between the Iziko South African Museum and the Company’s Garden.
The outdoor exhibition has also been installed in the garden of the SAAO.
In December, the exhibition moved to Sutherland and it is now installed and open to visit in two different locations: in the garden of the newly opened Sutherland planetarium (the garden is open to everyone and is free of charge to visit) and inside of the visitor centre at the SAAO site.
The project is still in progress, and a Chapter Two is currently being produced, incorporating new material.
The Hemelliggaam or The Attempt To Be Here Now exhibition is in Sutherland this month.
Those who aren’t able to see it in Sutherland can also visit the website hemelliggaam.com and look forward to the final exhibition, which will take place in Cape Town sometime next year.