2 December 2003
A milestone permanent exhibition of rock paintings and engravings has opened at the South African Museum in Cape Town. "IQE - the power of rock art: ancestors, rainmaking and healing", an exhibition which took several months to install, aims to demystify the spiritual world of the Khoi-San people, descendants of the earliest inhabitants of southern Africa.
Rock art is regarded as one of the earliest manifestations of man's artistic awakening, and southern Africa possesses one of the richest legacies of cave and rock shelter art in the world.
Today, thousands of years after the first images were etched into rock, the results provide invaluable insight into an enigmatic past. Rock art holds the key to many mysteries of the past, and its fascination affects not only those concerned with antiquity, but also artists, craftsmen, educators and laymen.
Despite their outward simplicity, the images are steeped in complexity and symbolism, and the exhibition has necessarily drawn on the knowledge of the present-day San.
Funded by a grant from the State Lotteries Board, "IQE - the power of rock art" arises out of a creative partnership with the San and Khoikhoi descendant communities, curators, academics and leading designers.
Associated educational and public programmes - for both schools and the public - will complement this powerful exhibition and will include performances, storytelling, music, lectures and tours.
"IQE" is a permanent exhibition and can be viewed daily from 10am to 5pm.
For more information, e-mail Carol Kaufmann or phone her on (021) 481-3834.
Source: Iziko Museums of Cape Town
