group4art

  A World of Experience: The Art of South Africa Come see the the lush beauty of South Africa on one of many port excursions that can bring you to the Game Pass in the Drakensberg Mountains, home to the the cave paintings of the San people, or visit the South African Parliament building that houses the Keiskamma Tapestry, a 120-metre tapestry lining the walls of the structure.

 Cave Painting Cave painting abounds in South Africa. Perhaps the earliest and most famous example of such a technique is the Game Pass of the Drakensberg Mountains. Geoffrey Blundell concludes that the Game Pass is commonly referred to as the Rosetta Stone of southern African cave painting because of its ability to divulge the metaphors used in San shamanist rituals. Specifically a dance that is performed after the killing of an animal in which the San will go into a trance "in order to harness supernatural energy (known as n/om) from the animal" (1).

Colonial Era Colonial era artists lived in South Africa and produced works very similar to the natural world. Shaun de Waal writes that "during the colonial era, what artists there were in South Africa tended to concentrate on depicting this "new world" in detail as accurate as they could make it...a form of reporting for people back in the metropolis" (1).

From the work of Thomas Baines depicting the 1820 Landing of British Settlers, in a stark real recording of the event

to the work of later 19th century painters such as Hugo Naude or Jan Volschenk whose work is the first glimpse of an artist engaging with the African landscape. Jan Ernst Volschenk work depicts at least a little life other than colonial occupation. Waal writes that "their work is the first glimpse of an artistic vision engaging with life as lived in South Africa, for it's own sake, rather than as a "report" to the colonial master" (1). While on board why not take the time to peruse our Transatlantic Mall catalog with the latest Sotheby's Auction pieces from the Johannesburg National Gallery. What could be better than a piece of fine art as a souvenir? Current feature is the oil on canvas above by Jan Ernst Volschenk.

The Polly Street Art Center  "Apartheid was a politics of space more than anything...much of the Apartheid legislation was denyng people the right to move. It's all about space, restricting space." - David Koloane, artist,1995 The Polly Street Art Center was created in 1952 as a space for adult education, a space for creative and intellectual minds to gather. Famous artists to come out of the center include: Cecil Skotnes, Sydney Khumalo, and Ezrom Legae.

Cecil Skotnes, Captive Sydney Khumalo, Riding Ezrom Legae, Rider

Contemporary Art Artists today are using an array of tools and media. Waal concludes that "through their very works, they ask what art's position is in a society in transition from the repressive limitations of the past to the scary uncertainties of the future" (5). Crafts and folk art have always held a high regard in South African tradition such as tapestry, bead work, and wire art. Most well known is the Keiskamma Tapestry which provides a visual history of the Eastern Cape.

<span style="font-size: 70%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; color: rgb(243, 32, 32);"> Notice that Day 4 alternate excursion will be to visit the South Africa Parliament building that houses the Keiskamma Tapestry.

Works Cited

Blundell, Geoffrey. "African Rock Art: Game Pass". In //Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History//. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd_game.htm (October 2001)

"Claiming Art Reclaiming Space: Post Apartheid Art From South Africa". National Museum of African Art. 10 December 2008 <www.nmafa.si.edu/exhibits/SAsite/exhtext.htm>. de Waal, Shaun. "South African Art". Big Media Publishers. 10 December 2008 <http://www.southafrica.info/about/arts/art.htm>.