ART OF THE AGES
MA Farquharson discovers that, for art lovers, the province blooms with all sorts of works that tell our various histories
‘TO the rest of the country, the term “Free State” may conjure images of mielie fields and conservative volk, but those who venture there will find a much more cosmopolitan air — at least in the southeastern part that we visited.
Exhibitions in Bloemfontein and surrounds reveal that art is blossoming in the province, from the decorative and serious to the mystical and tourist-minded.
Each piece added to the story of the procession of invaders who settled here before being ousted by the next conqueror in line.
The latest invaders are the tourists, who include expats living in Lesotho. For them and the Gauties, who spend long weekends here, the shops along the border burst with items involving windmills, flowers, animals and, most often, paintings of rustic types and middle-class nudes.
At the same time, artist Johnny Selesho celebrates the ordinary person with, for example, his large sculpture of a ragged mother and her children, all burdened with parcels and bags, ponderously struggling onwards.
Take a step back in time and it’s the turn of the political propagandists to plant their flags: a gigantic statue — unveiled by President Jacob Zuma in 2012 — of Nelson Mandela has been put on top of Naval Hill. Another example is one of the statues at the National Women’s Monument of a noble Boer being seen off to fight the British by his heroic wife, who is calmly holding her baby.
On the other side of the artistic divide, and from another era of occupation, the Oliewenhuis Art Museum’s excellent permanent collection includes landscapes by Gregoire Boonzaier and Pierneef of two striking rock formations nearby, which we immediately recognised when we drove past them the following day.
We also took in the folk art of the Basotho at the beautifully situated cultural village adjoining the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
And our last trip into the past led us to about 1650, to some San rock art in the Tandjiesberg between Clocolan and Bloemfontein.
This site is on the farm of John Liguori, whose father, Angelo, rediscovered the paintings in the ’40s. John drove ahead of us to the foot of the hills, gave us the keys and a guide by JHN Loubser of the Bloemfontein National Museum and left us to it.
A short walk up the hill led us to a rock overhang, protected by a sort of cage. Once we had unlocked the gate, we were alone with the paintings. The only sounds were birds, the clicking of the camera and our occasional comments as we tried to sort out all the images packed together on the overhang. The closer we looked, the more of the small figures — mostly in a blood red — we could make out.
Information boards were helpful in teasing out some of the images, but in general no one is sure what these delicate, precise little paintings signify.
For some reason, this was a sad place. Maybe it was because of the veil of leaves which only allowed a dappled light into the mouth of the cave, or because it was quiet, or because of the images of nasty, spiky beasts, picked out in white, attacking human beings. According to an information board, these are depictions of “apocalyptic dogs”. The San abandoned the area around 1650 when herdsmen who had migrated from up north arrived.
To see the rock art, first book with John Liguori on 051 924 2475, pay R40 a person, and return the key and book to the farmhouse.