This installation contemplates how we should tread lightly with other people, our history and the planet. The artist has long been interested in leaving a mark like ancient petroglyphs on found stone, burnt or dark walls. The gravures scratch at the surface interrogating the deep past archaeologically, and the work unfolded as the artist spent time on site.

MERKMAAK/MARK-MAKING/INTENGISO YEEMPAWU ZOSHISHINO

Jaco van der Merwe

met ons stemme en handgebare

soos lemme deur die land se are

beaam ons hartkloppe hardkoppig:

ons lewens is kort maar tog lank genoeg

om merkwaardige brokkies lig en bloed

in die oogbal van die afgrond in te spoeg.

with our voices and gestures

like knives through the land’s veins

our heartbeats confirm stubbornly:

our lives are short yet long enough

to spew remarkable chunks of light and blood

Into the eyeball of the abyss

Ngamazwi ethu nangeentshukumo zomzimba

Njengeemela zisika imithambo yomhlaba

Iintliziyo zethu zingqina ngokuzithemba ukuba:

Ubomi bethu bufutshane kanti bude ngokwaneleyo

Ukutsaza izicwibi ezinkulu zokukhanya negazi

Ubuso ngobuso kwinzonzobila.