community reflections

At the age of sixteen, I became a makoti. This means I was forced into marriage, something that made me very, very unhappy. For many years I was a housewife, always asking my husband for everything. But I wished to work for myself, not to have to depend on other people.

And then, one lucky day, my life changed.

Keiskamma Art Project studio is situated in a house below the road next to the Keiskamma river in Hamburg. I used to pass there when I went to clean at my boss’s place in Magqubeni.  I was interested to find out more about the work being done there; I had heard people talking about it in the village, in our taxis and at ceremonies. Once, we were on our way to town and I overheard many people having conversations about this amazing place where people were working making crochet plastic mats and bags out of plastic. Some ladies in the taxi were already members of Keiskamma Art Project. They were sharing what they were doing there and how they got money that they could use to go to town.

One day my boss and I passed the studio by the river, just below the road. He stopped the bike and said that he wanted to see what was happening there. I was curious too. So, we got off and made our way down towards the house. Yoh! There were so many people there! We were amazed. They welcomed us warmly and as we walked around and looked at the beautiful sewing; we chatted to the artists and heard about all the things they were making and the stitches they were learning.

My boss turned to me and smiled and said, ‘You should be a member of this project too because you are talented with sewing.’ I was shocked because he had never said anything like this before, even though we often had conversations. I was truly taken away by the work that I was seeing. I saw myself as part of it and I decided to join the Project.

I remember well when I did my first artwork. It was a sunny day, and we had all gathered together, as we used to do every day at the Keiskamma Art Project. Carol Baker, who is the founder of the Project, was giving us a drawing session. Carol is my first lady, my first teacher doctor, who taught me about art. I liked her from the start because she is a very loving person with a big heart, willing to help anyone in any difficult situation, from the poor to the rich. She does not discriminate; she treats all people the same way. She would easily cry in situations that touched the heart.

At this drawing session, we were not at all sure of what we were doing.

‘OK, let us draw a sick cow,’ said Carol.

‘A sick cow?’ we all asked.

‘Yes,’ replied Carol.

We all took our pencils and drew. Everyone was laughing, thinking of a tiny, skinny, sick cow.

‘This is what I was looking for,’ said Carol. ‘These are very nice drawings. As from today, nobody should be shy or afraid of drawing.’

I was so proud hearing this. My spirit lifted being told that I was able draw something.

When I joined the Project, there were two white ladies from Oxford in the UK who taught us embroidery. Jan and Jackie looked like twins and they were Carol’s friends. They were so kind and clever and talkative, and they liked to joke. After we drew our sick cows, we started embroidering our cows with stiches, making the real art pieces. We sewed them up into cushion covers that people loved and bought from our shop. I was so happy when I finished my first piece of embroidery. It was like a dream making something with my hands.

After some time, I became a full member of the Keiskamma Art Project. I worked very hard, until I recognised myself as a talented artist.

The years rolled by. We learned new techniques in workshops as different groups of people with different art skills came to the village to teach us. I never focused on one thing, but kept trying new and different things from the things we had been taught. I gave myself over to the work I did and that enabled me to be helpful in the Project. All the new things, for example, start with me and then they are approved. I am also in charge of the work’s neatness and the neatness of the place that we are working in. I am helpful because I am responsible for all the work in the project, its successes and its pitfalls. Also, I am responsible for seeing that everything is going according to plan. I no longer get trained; I am doing the training. I no longer have to depend on someone.

The Keiskamma Art Project is part of the broader Keiskamma Trust, which has health, education and music programmes. Keiskamma Health takes care of sick people and, when they are seriously ill, transports them to our local hospitals (Nompumelelo Hospital, Cecilia Makhiwane Hospital and Frere Hospital). Otherwise, it would be very difficult to get the sick people to hospitals. Our tapestries tell stories to encourage people with sicknesses like TB and HIV—HIV especially, which has taken the lives of so many people we love—to believe in themselves and never give up. When HIV/AIDS was making many people sick, Carol was in and out of people’s houses and in and out of hospitals, reassuring people suffering with pain and fear, thinking that they are not going to make it. She was the kind of doctor who would help people no matter what the situation was at the time—giving hope to those who had lost it, encouraging those who wanted to give up in life.

Keiskamma changes lives and ways of living also in terms of gender equality. Our Project boosts self-esteem, especially among women. We are all the same. Men and women can work in the same kind of jobs. Women are the most powerful pillars in families and in society, as we show in the Women’s Charter Tapestries.

The Art Project has given an opportunity to members of Keiskamma Art Project to travel abroad. Keiskamma works such as the Keiskamma Guernica, the Keiskamma Altarpiece and the Keiskamma Tapestry are works that connect South Africa to the whole world. You name it—Canada, England, Mauritius, Germany and other countries—we have travelled there with the artworks.

But it is always nice to come back home to Hamburg.

Recently, I had the privilege of travelling to Munich in Germany to be part of an exhibition called HIV Science as Art, co-curated by Jessica Whitbread and Daniel Cordner, and held at the same time as the International AIDS Conference. It was an incredible experience.

So, as I'm standing here today, I can say I'm proud of myself. I'm proud of being a woman standing on my two feet, fighting for life, feeding my kids. Now I have my own home where I stay. It is the home to my grandchildren. With the help of Keiskamma I can feed the children, clothe them, and buy all that the household needs without having to ask anyone. Keiskamma is the pillar of Hamburg and Peddie as a whole, from health to education.

I always say, when I joined the Keiskamma Art Project, I did not choose. It chose me.

And when people ask me, ‘Are you a qualified artist?’, I love to say, ‘No, I'm an ambassador of art because I didn't go to university to get a certificate for art. I’ve got my inner certificate. Art is in me.’