African Guernica

The Art Project’s new tapestry, Keiskamma Guernica, was inspired by Picasso’s painting ‘Guernica’. While Picasso’s work was a protest against the bombing on the small town of Guernica in Spain in 1937, ours is a protest about the slow and seemingly unstoppable
disintegration and death of a generation of people through poverty and HIV/AIDS.

Well done Tara Klemenici-Kozul

All at Keiskamma Friends UK are really proud of Tara, who ran the Edinburgh Marathon on 23 May and, at time of writing, has raised in excess of £800 for the Keiskamma Trust.

"I made it to the end of the 26.2 mile course this Sunday with a time of 4 hours 38 minutes. It was the hottest day of the year in Edinburgh and the last 6 miles went by in a slight delirium. Now I can proudly say that I've run a marathon, and my Keiskamma fund raising has nearly reached £800! Thank to everyone who made a donation and your words of encouragement. For those who thought they'd missed the chance, my page is still open, and it isn't too late. The photo is of me 10 minutes after crossing the finish line, clutching the (very heavy) medal we were all awarded."

If you would like to make a donation and help Tara reach her target of £1000 for The Trust please visit her Just Giving sponsorship page.

Mystery Squares Fund Raiser

Since 2001 Jan Chalmers and Jacky Jezewski have regularly held hand embroidery workshops with the women of the Keiskamma Art Project on the Eastern Cape in South Africa.  Over 200 women are now skilled in an extraordinary variety of stitches and textile decoration.

The intention has always been for the local women to manage the workshops themselves, and it is now time to hand the responsibility over. The creation of a local emroidery school will allow the women to continue to learn and develop their skills.

Bandalakazi: Keiskamma's newly appointed embroidery teacher

Bandlakazi Nyongo, a young Xhosa woman has been voted to be the tutor by the embroidery artists. She has already been appointed to her new full-time job and will continue embroidery classes for beginners, and assist and support experienced embroiderers. As a result of this new enterprise women will continue to earn a wage and manage their own affairs.

How can you help?

We want you to sponsor one of our 'mystery squares'. On our website is a virtual wall hanging of 110 embroidered squares, each one created by the current women artists.  Choose a square to sponsor (or more than one if you like) from the virtual wall hanging, donate your money and watch the hanging come to life as each embroidered square is revealed. Your sponsorship money will go directly to help fund the embroidery school.

The wall hanging will be displayed at the school as reference for beginners.  Your name and those of your fellow sponsors will be listed alongside.  To see the virtual wall hanging, choose your square and make a donation to help the school, click here.

A Keiskamma gem in the UK

The Cream Tapestry is the second of three important history tapestries to be made by the women artists of the Keiskamma Art Project, and measures approximately 80 metres by 50 centimetres. With a history as rich as that of the Eastern Cape there are stories within stories and the women are eager to relate them. Although this tapestry is not as long as the Keiskamma History Tapestry, which hangs in the Parliament Building in Cape Town, the cream tapestry tells the same history using a different perspective.

The stories have been embroidered with hand dyed mohair wool and embellished with beads onto a cream hessian base and show a colourful and diverse historical account of the life and times of people from the Eastern Cape. This work has been purchased by of Street Somerset and will be on permanent display in their International Office in the UK. The sale of this tapestry has helped the Keiskamma Art Project to continue employing local Xhosa women artists and embroiderers.

Grandmothers' Project Sept 2008 Article in The Independent April 2007
A Christmas Story December 2007
The KAT Walk March 2007
Poverty Alleviation Legacy Jan 2007
Visiting Gardener March 2007
A Jolly Dolly Day Nov 2006
Huberta the Hippo Nov 2006
Proud Mayor July 2006
Thai Princess Introduced Sept 2006
Keiskamma Graduates May 2006
Dance Movement & Music Jan 2005

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