Sourcing spellbinding stories of african art

Thomas Kubayi is a world renowned sculptor who has played an important role in the mentorship of young artists on the Ribola Art Route. His art speaks to Tsonga culture and traditions but also to the challenges facing us all in the world.

“When we emerged, we began to climb the thread – it was the thread of the sky! Yes, my friend. Now up there in the sky, the people up there, the spirits…they sing for me so I can dance” says Old K’xau, a !Kung shaman in Edward and Cathelijne Eastwood’s book, ‘Capturing the Spoor’. And we can see it too in ochre paint, emerging from the rock face are three Shamans transformed into humans with animal heads, faces upturned towards a string of light coming down from the sky. They are bleeding from the nose and have ochre smears across their bodies where the ‘n/om’ or supernatural potency has been activated at the base of the spine. Nearby, slim Kudu appear to be climbing out of the cracks in the rock from the spirit world behind it. We feel as if we have stepped back in time as we stand beneath this sheltered sandstone overhang with our guide, Jonas Tlouamma who has brought us here to see these precise and beautiful San paintings. The Makgabeng Plateau lies south of the Blouberg and west of the Soutpansberg, near the town of ‘My Darling’ in the North-west of Limpopo Province. Rising 200 metres above the bushveld, the Makgabeng stretches over a distance of 250 square kilometres and most of this is uninhabited. Imagine towering ochre cliffs, strange rock formations rising out of the bushveld surrounds, vast expanses of wilderness and over 800 unique KhoeKhoe, San and Sotho rock art sites undisturbed for centuries. Imagine this and you are still nowhere close to the reality of this awe-inspiring, wild and wonderful place. Take a day tour or spend the weekend at the Makgabeng Farm Lodge. Credit : Love Limpopo - https://www.lovelimpopo.com/explore-800-rock-art-sites/