Swellendam Winter School - !Xairu Culture Connect

Tue Jun 18, 14:00 - Thu Jul 18, 10:00

Community Trust House,

ABOUT

Come on a journey of creativity and cultural discovery in Suurbraak with Donovan Julius, young contemporary Khoisan artist, and other community members, weaving a story of renewal and self-determination that is both unique and universal in South African today.  



18-20 June

!Xairu – meaning Place called Paradise – is the Khoisan name for Suurbraak, a village in the greater Swellendam area with a fascinating history: originally a Khoisan (Attaqua) settlement, it became a mission town in 1812, and recently the village and its land was deeded to the community – a unique form of land ownership in this day.


Here, young Khoisan man, father and self-taught artist Donovan Julius has established the Zinc Gallery, where he lives and creates his work. His vibrant canvases speak of the political struggles of marginalised people during colonialism and apartheid, and offer social commentary on contemporary issues of our time. His story is one that takes the elements of his personal, political and cultural history and recycles it into a narrative of identity and community that is fresh, loud and proud.


Come along with Donovan and his co-facilitators on a journey of art and culture in !Xairu. Join Donovan in his art classes with the local primary schoolchildren. Visit the Zinc Gallery and learn about the stories told in his artwork and in his initiatives to help his people rise above their circumstances. Experience the stories and traditional cooking of Khoisan elder David November. Take an easy walk in the beautiful surrounding mountainside with field guide Rose Hay. Meet and visit other people and initiatives as we walk through the village.

Leave a humble mark in Suurbraak by participating in a collective landscape art project. You will also create and take away your own recycled art made with pieces collected along our walks.

Feel, see, experience and taste Suurbraak in this unique Swellendam Winter School course. The walks require a basic level of walking fitness. Come with an open mind and adventurous spirit.


To find out more about this course, you can get in touch with the facilitator on 061 834 6189

We encourage you to stay in Suurbraak for this course. Please search online to book your accommodation.

COURSE CURRICULUM

MODULE 1

1pm: Start with lunch and course overview in ‘Die Markie’ (historical market square) or Trust House if raining

2-4pm: Art classes with Primary School Children in Trust House– interacting with and encouraging children (these classes are funded by the Light of Africa Foundation)

4-5pm: Walk through the Village, collecting rubbish for recycled art, with a visit to the Suurbraak Furniture Makers Cooperative


MODULE 2

9-10am: Meet at Die Grootboom in the River / Church Hall if raining. Join a discussion with Donovan and invited community elders to learn about the history of Suurbraak from Attaqua settlement to Mission to current day Land ownership and property transitions.

10am-12pm:Take a walk with trail guide Rose Hay in the Langeberg Mountain range (Marloth Nature Reserve). If wet, a gentle non-slippery walk along the river, and if really pouring, we’ll either juggle the schedule or enjoy an indoors nature talk at Paradise Organic.

Meet at Trust House and go together to Donovan’s Zinc Gallery where David November will be waiting with a warm traditional Khoi San lunch and stories around the fire.


MODULE 3

Art and Stories in the Zinc Gallery with Donovan

Individual creation of Recycled Art


 MODULE 4

Visit Oom Piet Botha’s rustic furniture workshop –

Collective creation of Landscape Art


About the facilitators


Donovan Julius

Source: www.swellendam.com

You don’t need to meet Donovan Julius to recognize the passion with which he approaches his art, his life and his search for justice for humanity and indigenous people. You only have to look at his work – everything is there – vivid and unforgettable.

But if you are lucky enough to meet him in person, then you will find him to be just as vivid and unforgettable. He describes himself first and foremost as a father (two lovely boys, Raphael and Carter) and gives full credit to their mother, Janine, for helping him to be where he is today.

“She believed in me since the first time we met, I was broke, depressed and blamed the world… but she prayed and paid for much of the stuff I needed… on a R800 per month salary from which she had to pay rent and buy food to help me realise my goals – especially when I turned my back on painting…

It was a dark time in my life… and she was the light a flicker of hope … my saving grace…”

Donovan is only 29 but these dark times in his life have no doubt contributed to the work he produces, which is defiantly vibrant. He believes wholeheartedly that the purpose of his art is to act as a message to the people for whom he fights, and whose eyes he wants to open to their potential, and to awaken their pride.

“I truly believe being an artist in such a small community/village like !Xairu will eventually help our people to SEE you can do anything no MATTER HOW HARD OR LONG THE ROAD as long as you keep going and don’t give up…”

As a child he drew on everything with any medium he could lay his hands on: “Since forever me and my cousins always were drawing, from boet en saartjie , dragonball Z characters and gravity. Every blackboard in high school had some kind of Donovan Julius art on it!”

When he works now, the experience for him is overpowering– he describes it as being transported into another dimension, sweaty palms, heart racing , shortness of breath, an adrenaline rush …

“It’s like I’m in a bubble, I can have people around me chatting and what not – but I’m not truly there”. Portraits are his favourite subject: “You look out into a sea of faces and there is so much to read, then one will speak to me – the Oom in the street, the celebrity in the magazine – you have to look, see and understand, then bring the face alive with the all the colours that synchronize with the subject.”

One particular portrait, Piet Ogies, affected Donovan deeply.

For a while, he resisted the urge to paint him – as he knew it was going to be an overwhelming encounter – but … “his khoisan face spoke volumes, the many winters and summers and everything between screamed out at me and I didn’t want to paint him… but the energy was too strong to ignore… I couldn’t sleep for two days… so I had to abide …”

Donovan loves to create beautiful, passionate chaos, and has learned to trust the process and the energy he feel when working on his creations. When asked if he could change the world in any significant way what he would do, he replied that he would swing his magic paint brush and paint everyone different colours – no more race wars – and having been lucky enough to meet him and see his work – I believe if anyone could do that – Donovan could!

David November

I am David November from Sutherland. I grew up in that beautiful town in the Karoo, where my mother taught me to prepare traditional food. Sometimes there was less in my household and she taught me how to stretch the rands. Yes, I am a Khoi, very proud of my origins and respect for my traditions. I would love to entertain people and to serve them some of our indigenous dishes. I would really love to cater for the people of the Winter School, just to give them a taste of Suurbraak and a taste of the hands of David November.

Rose Hay

Rose Hay is a FGASA (Field Guide Association of South Africa) Nature, Marine and Trails Guide.

She has always felt a strong connection to Nature and is passionate about Wildlife Conservation. She has worked as a Meerkat and Cheetah Habituator in the Tswalu Kalahari Private Game Reserve. This is where she furthered her experience with Animal Communication and Interaction. She is fascinated by how all the little aspects of nature fit into the whole picture. How certain plants thrive within their rare, unique niche microbiomes.

She qualified as a Sivananda Yoga Teacher in India and is a Yoga4Kids teacher. She has a 2-year old daughter and lives in an Off-the-Grid home in Suurbraak. She is delighted to be sharing Suurbraak’s magical landscape and nature with you.

DIRECTIONS

Swellendam Winter School - !Xairu Culture Connect
Community Trust House,
Suurbraak, 6743
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