WOMEN’S WORK
By Sue Van Der Hout
Education of women and conflict regarding the roles of men and women in African villages, but it is the women who are reweaving Africa, thread by thread…XX & XY
There is a beautiful and haunting piece of tapestry that hangs in the Parliament of South Africa that few tourists, indeed, few South Africans get to see.
Called the Keiskamma Tapestry, it is the brainchild of Dr. Carol Hofmeyr, a local medical doctor in the East Cape and an artist in her own right. She moved to the village in 2000, drawn by the rich beauty of the area and the needs of a community in which poverty and disease were rampant.
Over 200,000 people live in rural villages in an area of approximately 3600 square miles. In 2005, Dr. Hofmeyr converted an old house in the Hamburg area (Hamburg, is located on the banks of the Keiskamma River in the Ngqushwa region of the Eastern Cape) into Umtha Welanga (Rays of the Sun) Centre, a residential centre for the treatment of HIV. The facility has an average bed occupancy of 10 patients a night with 20 new patients admitted per month. The facility and its services also attempts to reach people in the district through the training of village health workers. Its challenge: meet the needs of 120 villages over a vast district.
Dr. Hofmeyr conceived of the tapestry as a way of promoting the interaction of women from Hamburg and neighbouring villages, promoting understanding and relationship in the region and giving them a way to earn a living. http://www.keiskamma.org/index.php/health
It is a spectacular work of over 100 pairs of women’s hands, who diligently crafted the work over a period of eight months – from December 2003 to July 2004.
It is a case of women, white and black, supporting and empowering each other and a study in politics, history, art, health and community.
The Keiskamma Tapestry is a political act in that it affirms the contribution of the individual and of women; the values and beliefs of a community; and the ability of community to draw together in strength. It empowers local women by teaching them how to make a living, while staying in and sustaining the richness of their own village and their communities.
The history it tells is that of the South Africa, from the roots up. It is an expression of the stories, knowledge and intelligence of the women of the women of the community working with an academic historian. It is a history that incorporates «her»story as well as history. It is magical.
Walking Woman 
Mandela
It is art, not only in its compelling colours and textures but its powerful figures and stories. It creates itself as a modern historic artifact, drawing its origins from the famous Bayeux tapestry which tells of the defeat of England by the French in 1066, creating a pictorial of an oral history of South Africa in design.
In its integrity and its creation, it is testimony to the power of life in the face of HIV related illness; wellness over disease. In the district the ante–natal infection rate is 35%. Approximately 35,000 people in the district are HIV positive of which 10% are children. 400 people have been initiated into the treatment program. Poverty, poor nutrition and lack of education are also a plague here. TB is a killer for many.
Dr. Rayda Becker, Curator of the artworks of Parliament, author of Art Routes, and co-author of Art of African Textiles: Technology, Tradition and Lurex and a renowned South Africa scholar of African art, walked the length of the Tapestry and shared the history and beauty of the tapestry with us.
The tapestry winds through the Old Assembly. The most awe inspiring presentation is in the Porthuis (entry). To appreciate the fullness of its message, however, follow the story through the lobby and the outside walls of the Old Assembly chamber.
Dr. Becker explained that the tapestry is stained in ochre summoning the colours of the blankets and skirts of the region. White and blue beads and mother-of-pearl buttons, normally ornamenting dress and regalia in the region decorate the figures. The importance of cattle to the prosperity of the region is made repeatedly with engaging pictures of cows. Some of the animals gaze directly into the eyes of the viewer. It is a history of agriculture, battles, slavery, apartheid, heroism and survival.
Edged in black it includes in yellow, the names of the patrons of the project. The names of the contributing artists are stitched in red.
The people and the project make a simple but compelling request: «If you feel there is a way, however small, in which you can make a contribution in this challenging area, please the Trust at: enquiries@keiskamma.org
Most of the funding for the project comes from 3 major donors: 25:40 in Washington, D.C., John Brown and friends in London and Bjorn Ronneberg and friends in Norway. More friends, funds, blankets, jerseys, clothes, and toys are urgently needed and greatly appreciated.
For more information contact:
In SOUTH AFRICA, please contact Marj Holmes: marj@keiskamma.org
In the UK, please contact Jan Chalmers: jan.oxford@btinternet.com
In the USA, please contact The St James Cathedral www.saintjamescathedral.org. or email webmaster@saintjamescathedral.org . Cheques can be made payable to «Cathedral of St James/Keiskamma Trust» and sent to St James Cathedral, 65 E, Huron St, Chicago
In Canada see www.keiskammacanada.com; or e-mail Annette Woudstra: daswoudstra@yahoo.ca
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READ: THE BEACH HOUSE
The Beach House is everything a summer novel should be: warm, wise, wet and sandy. It grabs every woman who’s played the friendship, courtship, true love, marriage and multiply game by the swimstraps and plays out the haunting midlife questions. The ones you ask yourself and very, very close friends: My God is that me and is there still hope to become who I can and want to be? The ones you can’t bear to think about. As one character angsts: «Who would ever love me…[M]y breasts are saggy from childbirth, I have stretch marks on my stomach, legs I forget to shave for months at a time.» The ones you ask your partner: Who are you and are we still relevant? And the biggie: Is there still hope in the face of life lived halfway and in some senses half lived? In Nantucket where the novel takes place, the answer for women [and men] is yes and yes. It’s a sweet and salty read. Girlphyte.com
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