South Africa through the Department of Arts and Culture, Mexico, Botswana and Mozambique have launched a major international rock art project. University of the Witwatersrand, Rock Art Research Institute is the implementing Agent of DAC in this project. As part of the project the Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Paul Mashatile launched the international travelling exhibition at the Origins Centre Gallery, Wits University on 27 October 2011. This is part of the national strategy to make South Africa the world’s number one rock art tourism destination.
This is an innovative and first ever international rock art heritage collaboration between South Africa, Mexico, Botswana and Mozambique and is a strategic south-south partnership aimed at building capacity and to assist in the practical implementation of rock art research and heritage management projects in these countries. Several partner institutions within these four countries are engaged in cooperative programmes to further the above goals, particularly in the cultivation and exchange of experiences in the specific fields of community oriented and driven projects, rock art tourism, site management planning, creation of rock art visitor centres, training and skills development, documentation and database creation, rock art interpretation and conservation research around rock art sites.
It has recently been proven that Africa is the place where art began: up to 70,000 years ago in South Africa and Botswana humans were inscribing rocks with complex and symbolic patterns; rewriting the history of world art. We now know that people in Africa were making art, wearing beadwork and engaging in ritual behaviour before any modern humans set foot in Europe, Asia or the Americas. Art and culture are African contributions to the world. This unique heritage gives Africa a preeminent role in this field.
South Africa is the only country in the world to have rock art at the centre of its National Coat of Arms. The national motto also evokes our ancient heritage. It is written in the San language known as /Xam and means literally: “People who are different should join together” or more generally “Unity in Diversity”. It evokes our common ancestral past and it looks forward to our shared future. Our rock art heritage and our rock art research are fields in which South Africa is an undisputed world leader.
South Africa is home to at least 15,000 rock art sites, some of which rank amongst the best in the world in their technical quality, richness of detail, symbolic sophistication and antiquity. They are now widely recognized for their spiritual significance. Extraordinary concentrations of sites are found in the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, the Cederberg Ranges in the Western Cape, the greater Limpopo Basin, and the inland central plateau covering the Free State and Northern Cape provinces. The first three regions have been globally recognized as being of exceptional cultural and natural significance by their inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Unlike in other parts of the world, many South African communities share ancestral ties with the societies who made these artistic treasures. Many sites continue to have spiritual significance to modern communities and so the sites are more than just remnants of past glories, they also form part of a rich South African living heritage.
The exhibition will run until 29 January 2012 seven days a week from 9am - 5pm with the exception of the week between Christmas and New Year. After this it will travel to Botswana, Mozambique and Mexico. Four Saturday morning walkabouts led by rock art authorities will be held at 10:30am on 12 and 26 November, 10 December and 14 January.
Visitors to Origins Centre who wish to see the exhibition only will be charged R45 per person. Entry to tour the entire museum including Sharing our Ancient Rock Art Treasures will cost R75 per person. Participation in the Saturday morning walkabouts will cost R50 a head.
Origins Centre is located in Yale Road on the campus of the University of the Witwatersrand.
Enquiries can be made via e-mail (ask@origins.org.za) or telephone (011 717 4700).
