The Art Project enjoyed an inspiring
story-telling workshop from February 2nd – 6th.
Zukiswa Pakama. originates from Hamburg, went on to study
Journalism and now works in Cape Town. She was asked by Carol to lead
the sessions on the theme of Birds and the Environment, especially to
inspire our artists for the production of the new major works for
Grahamstown Festival 2015.
We learned and shared songs about
birds, we found out how birds can be omens and we found out how the
bird feathers can be used in different ways, for instance by the
Masai people of Kenya or by the Sangomas here. We talked about the
relationship between birds and humans, and we compared traditional
stories about birds with some interesting scientific facts. For
instance, did you know that the Kori bustard weighs a magnificent 19
kilos?! Or that the Intsikizi Southern Hornbill can predict the
weather!
One afternoon we had visitors to our
workshop from the UK, so we took the opportunity to tell our own bird
stories and sing songs. It was a wonderful celebration of the new
ideas that we had been sharing.
By the end of the week we felt excited
to begin designing our new works of art and to integrate some of the
important facts and myths that Zuki and our artist colleagues
introduced us to. We are continuing our research into local birds and
stories about them and you will all enjoy the finished pieces in
Grahamstown this winter; colourful, vibrant and bursting with our
imaginations!
Nomfusi Nkani
Brenda Fishwick
