Tayla Damons wants to shout out to the world: \u201cI\u2019m from Oudtshoorn.\u201d But it hasn\u2019t always been that way. The past six months have changed her, she says, poetically describing the project responsible for her new emotional connection: \u201cBeing part of this visual arts team is like hearing a beat and one day I started versing on it. They have given me new eyes to look at things. Suddenly (the town) is not just dust: I can put shape, colours and words on it, and create a whole picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Damons, a young woman from Bridgton, is part of an oral history project called Karoo Kaarte (Karoo Map) which culminated at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) held in Oudtshoorn in March. Curated and facilitated by visual artist Vaughn Sadie and theatre-maker Neil Coppen, the team includes local writers, arts leaders, educators and young people from neighbouring De Rust, Dysselsdorp, Bridgton, Bongolethu and Central Oudtshoorn to, according to the facilitators, \u201ccollectively reflect on their sense of place and belonging in the different regions they reside in, while collectively imagining a more inclusionary future vision of Oudtshoorn\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Public art is a powerful medium for healing, particularly in towns where visible marks of trauma and a history of violence remain. This is well recognised in policy, and in South Africa festivals are a popular way of championing arts and culture. After two years of Covid-19 restrictions, cultural events are starting up again, with the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival one of the first to return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":5436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16],"tags":[7,30,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-5439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-news","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"\n