Mary Elizabeth Lange

An inclusive methodology emphasises other-centredness and many ways of knowing including spirituality. It draws on the spirit of ubuntu, kanala and participatory communication towards research that results in a product that is “the one made by many”. How this type of methodology can be implemented ethically in the recording and dissemination of indigenous stories and, more importantly, how it may challenge the spiritual well-being of the storyteller is considered. Three case studies involving the author directly are examined.

The Biesje Poort rock art project focused on the recording of previously undocumented rock engravings as well as the research teams’ reactions to and interpretations of the rock art, associated artefacts and site. The multidisciplinary and multicultural Biesje Poort research team included local representatives from the Kalahari. The greater scope of this paper is the gaining and sharing of knowledge in relation to the Biesje Poort rock art site.

‘Decolonising’ architectural education raises questions as to what might serve a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society, yet remain fit for an international discipline? We examine concepts of ‘decolonisation’ and ‘decoloniality’ as they have evolved, particularly in the southern hemisphere, and how these might form an appropriate context for thinking about a ‘decolonised’ architectural curriculum.

Evidence of man’s use of the Palmiet was found prior to our visit and housed at the Bergtheil Museum, Westville. These clues to the past provide a window into not only the technology people in the area used to procure food for survival, but also how food was processed. The clues include stone scrapers from the Middle Stone Age, that is 40 000 to 130 000 years before present. At this time man, as a hunter-gatherer, used spears as his main weapon.

The Biesje Poort rock art project was a research collaboration led by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Communication, Media and Society (CCMS) and funded by the National Heritage Council. The project focused on the recording of previously undocumented rock engravings as well as the recording of the research teams’ (including Kalahari representatives) stories inspired by the rock art site. The greater scope of the paper is that of the gaining and sharing of knowledge in relation to the Biesje Poort rock art site.

There is an increasing global recognition of the need for educational programmes on fauna and flora diversity, especially the need to balance the survival needs of communities with the ecological realities. For a lot of young people, such educational programmes should not just impart facts linked to learners’ curriculum but also take note of the spiritual aspect of social change particularly linked to well-being.

Original !garib Narrations about the Water Snake /Waterstories - Oorspronklike !garib-Vertellinge Van Die Waterslang (Literature Short Stories). Published with a set of original drawings by regional artist Betta Steyn.

... As we interact and communicate
We support each other
We serve through faith and trust
Our actions speak louder than words
They say that no man is an island
Just like the many strings on a violin
You need love, yeah, that’s the reason
Understanding there’s no treason
Togetherness in unity
A whole that seeks interdependency
All we need is to communicate 
Talking to each other, yeah help us translate…

These writings are about the experience of recording the rock engravings at Biesje Poort farm, north of the Orange (Gariep) River, Northern Province, South Africa - a place of extreme terrain and climate - by not only dedicated professionals and academics, but through the recorded voices of the Kalahari peoples themselves.

Storytelling, art and craft can be considered aesthetic expressions of identities. Kalahari identities are not fixed, but fluid. Research with present-day Kalahari People regarding their artistic expression and places where it has been, and is still, practised highlights that these expressions are informed by spirituality. This article explores this idea via two Kalahari case studies: Water Stories recorded in the Upington, Kakamas area, as well as research on a specific rock engraving site at Biesje Poort near Kakamas.