A book on the ancient rock art of the San -- the story behind the research. Ways of discovering rock art. The aesthetic approach. The narrative approach. Rediscovering the San. The interpretative approach: San beliefs. The interpretative approach: pictures in the brain. Ducks and rabbits. Battling it out. Many meanings. The broken string. Fragile heritage.
San rock paintings, scattered over the range of southern Africa, are considered by many to be the very earliest examples of representational art. There are as many as 15,000 known rock art sites, created over the course of thousands of years up until the nineteenth century. There are possibly just as many still awaiting discovery. Taking as his starting point the magnificent Linton panel in the Iziko-South African Museum in Cape Town, J. D. Lewis-Williams examines the artistic and cultural significance of rock art and how this art sheds light on how San image-makers conceived their world. It also details the European encounter with rock art as well as the contentious European interaction with the artists’ descendants, the contemporary San people.
Contains more than two hundred photographs of Africa's rock art, coupled with historical and interpretive analyses, compiled to raise public awareness of the variety, importance, and frailty of these works.
The Cape Herders explodes a variety of South African myths - not least those surrounding the negative stereotype of the 'Hottentot', and those which contribute to the idea that the Khoikhoi are by now 'a vanished people'.
"In this unique collection of folk stories, the voices of long-dead "Bushmen," or San people, of southern Africa speak to us about their lives and beliefs. We are given glimpses into their thought-world. We listen to them recounting their poignant myths and beliefs".--BOOKJACKET.
Bushman Rock Art is the first of its kind. Never before has rock art been so dissected and presented in such an easy-to-understand, interpretive manner, exploring the deep symbolic meaning behind the art and what these powerful images meant to Bushman artists.
This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of the indigenous people of the Western Cape. The past is vividly brought to life through the stories and photos, and information about heritage sites is included
"Small-scale societies like that of the Bushmen have social lessons to teach a world that is becoming increasingly homogenised. Their lifestyle needs to be understood and respected."--Jacket.
A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you've never seen it before, from the host of the beloved ArtCurious podcast We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know that Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed--or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol's most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy's moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings? ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.
Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject Art - Painting, grade: 1 (A), Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (Faculty of Arts), course: Course: South African Archaeology and Ethno-history (SA 301), 9 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: One aspect of the wealth of material evidence left behind by the early people are the pictures in south african rock art. They occur in paintings and engravings. In 1996 the total number of sites in South Africa was estimated to be a little over 10 000 but the actual number of sites is significantly undercounted. It is still not known exactly when the artists started to make rock art, although new techniques of radiocarbon dating, using very small samples of paint, open the possibility of an absolute chronology. The oldest example of rock art in Africa was found in 1969 by Eric Wendt in the southern region of Namibia at a site called Apollo 11. After various datings, mainly with the radiocarbon method, archaeologists concluded that the rock art tradition in southern africa is at least 27 500 years old. In South Africa the oldest dated rock art is an engraving in the Northern Cape which was found on a small slab of dolomite at the Wonderwerk Cave south of Kuruman. It has a radiocarbon date of c.10 200 BP. Rock paintings are found in the mountainous parts of the subcontinent in abundant rock shelters and shallow overhangs, while engravings were generally made on the interior plateau of South Africa. There are about 1600 paintings in South Africa. In this assignment I will focus on the meaning of rock paintings, on the specific symbols and their importance for the early people. In Chapter Two, I provide a short introduction about the artists and their methods. Then I will explain the three important approaches to reveal the meaning of rock art described by Lewis - Williams and give some examples of misinterpretations of rock paintings. Chapter Three deals with the spiritual world and shamanism in the society
