“Entyatyambeni” is a Xhosa expression meaning “In Flower”. The artworks exhibited were originally inspired by the organic botanical fabrics of Josef Frank. They have since then blossomed and grown into artworks that reflect the artists own growth, awareness of their precious environment and heritage.
Using fabric scraps, felt made locally and patient stitching, these artworks are brought to life by the collaboration between the artist and the embroiderer.
The Keiskamma Art Project was founded by Dr Carol Hofmeyr in 2000, in the Eastern Cape village of Hamburg. She encouraged a small group of women to learn embroidery, which today has become a large band of artists who generate income through the sales of the high quality craft they produce.
The Keiskamma Art Project is part of a wider thrust to rejuvenate and restore a landscape and a people fractured by generations of conflict and suppression. This sense of reawakening is woven into the daily fabric of life and finds expression in the efforts of the 130 men and women whose lives are strengthened through the work of the project. Through art, they tell their story of courage and strength to audiences around the world.
Artists from Hamburg and neighbouring villages work together in a variety of mediums on craft items and award winning art of monumental scale that are exhibited both in South Africa and internationally, including works shown in Toronto for the 2006 International Aids conference and in Durban for the Make Art/Stop AIDS exhibition co-curated by David Gere and Carol Brown. They were finalists at the Brett Keble Awards for the Keiskamma Tapestry in 2004 and the 12th Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) awards through the Murray & Roberts Women’s Art Project in two categories: First Time Sponsor and Single Project in 2009. The project has exhibited works at the Iziko National Gallery, the Grahamstown Festival, the Kirstenbosch Biennale and the 13th Venice Biennale (Biennale Architettura 2012).
