In January 2006, children’s book illustrator Sarah Garson travelled to Hamburg to coordinate a picture book project with twenty patients of the Keiskamma Aids and Treatment Centre and the local village primary school.

Through drawing and embroidery, the patients retold the legend of Huberta, a courageous Hippopotamus who in the 1920s travelled over 1000km from her native Zululand to banks of the Keiskamma River on the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

The narrative embroideries were then scanned, text added and bound into a picture book.

The children at the village primary school participated in a two-day workshop to produce papier-mâché masks of the characters from Huberta. These masks were later used in a finalé to the project when children from Hamburg adapted the story into a lively Capoeira performance.

Photo Album

The Huberta storybook embroidered by the women of the Art Project
The children of the local primary school at a two day mask making workshop
The Play: a capoeria performance by the children of the primary school in Hamburg
Sara Garson at work with her students

Click on the thumbnails for bigger images

More information on the story of Huberta can be found here.

Visit Sarah's website here.

added 4.11.06