|
|
|
 There are few places in the world where you can meet at least four world-class artists in the space of a day. Yet in Limpopo Province, the northern arc of South Africa, you can do exactly this. Perhaps you might come away with an heirloom your children will clamour to inherit.
The Venda Art Route is best tackled from the base of the Shiluvari Lakeside Lodge on the shores of Albasini Dam, not far from the town of Louis Trichardt (now called Makhado).
Here you can organise a guide to take you along the craft route, sleep in luxury and after a long day, come back to excellent meals laden with world-class craftworks.
The first stop of the day is usually Noria Mabasa in the little riverside village of Tshino. You may find Noria teaching students from all over the world, hosting tourists, carving, working with clay, or perhaps just pottering gently around her vegetable garden (she sells the surplus at the gate).
Her homestead is full of edible plants, burnished pots, clay figures and her latest carving. Like the Biblical Sampson, she never cuts her hair – she sees it as the source of her creative power. With short hair, she does not have the inspiring dreams of the old lady who tells her what to create and how, she says.
Phineas Masuvhelele lives in a simple home within the village of Mukondeni. He became famous after carving the enormous Millennium Drum, which incorporated part of a gigantic tree washed out of the ground by the ferocious floods of 2000.
He never chops down trees, but only harvests those that have died naturally, or that were chopped down to clear fields. Some of the drums have taken him more than a year to carve. Their deep voices must be just right.
Not far from him is the famous Jackson Hlongwane. You should set aside a few hours to chat to this eccentric character who makes sense of messages and shapes in twisted roots. One of his students, John Baloyi, has also become famous – one of his large carvings was recently installed outside South Africa’s Constitutional Court. You may well find him and a number of acolytes happily carving away at Jackson’s place, apparently inspired by laughter.
It’s not all high art though. Visit Tsonga Textiles where you can buy beautiful tablecloths and other items. You can also visit the fascinating Tshakhuma Market – the heart of Venda’s fresh produce – and the Khomanani Paper Art factory, you can buy stylish paper products made from pulped school exam questionnaires and banana stem pulp.
Links:
|
|
|
|
|
|