Keiskamma Art Project’s Intsikizi Tapestries

WORDS Palesa Kgasane

The Keiskamma Art Project will be hosting an Intsikizi Tapestries exhibition at the Ilse Schermers (IS) Art Gallery in Franschhoek, during the Literary Festival.

The six tapestries are a collaborative project by six artists and 24 embroiderers under the guidance of Keiskamma Art Project production manager Cebo Mvubu, as well as master embroiderer, ceramicist and founder Carol Hofmeyr. “A group of over 100 women and a few men who are uniquely skilled in making art using textiles and especially embroidery shows that when people work together a miracle of transformation can occur,” says Carol.

The Intsikizi Tapestries collection gets its name from the endangered Southern Ground Hornbill, and the exhibition focuses on conservation and nature under a Xhosa theme. The exhibited works hope to encourage people to engage with the environment on a deeper level, with the focus being the role of nature in Xhosa culture.

The point of departure for the Intsikizi Tapestries was the European artwork, The Hunt for the Unicorn. The tapestries take on aspects of the work in terms of style, composition and content. Each of the pieces is approximately 1,4 m wide and 1,6 m high. They are embroidered and appliquêd on cotton fabric in mostly hand-dyed wool. The tapestries feature Eastern Cape plants and birds, and also make use of a technique called mille fleurs, meaning the background features thousands of flowers.

Restoration, the sixth tapestry, is one of 50 nominees for an Innibos Craft Award and will be exhibited in July 2017.

The exhibition runs from Saturday 20 May 2017 at 11am until the end of June 2017. The IS Art Gallery is located at 11 Huguenot Road, Franschhoek. For more information, visit keiskamma.com.