San Art

N//aoh Djao San Art & Craft

The !Xun and Khwe crafters were taught by their elders. Years later when the path of life brought them to South Africa these crafters had to use their traditional skills to create wares that could be sold to sustain themselves.

SASI,The South African San Institute is assisting these crafters to establish a business.
The 162 !Xun & Khwe crafters currently on SASI’s database are indigenous to Angola and Namibia.

There are traditional and commercial lines
The Product Range includes: fine art, traditional carving, furniture, beadwork, textile printing, textile CMT, embroidery, weaving, crochet and ceramics.

The cultural and heritage development are addressed by another SASI programme, ‘Footprints of the San’, a tour route giving you the !Xun & Khwe cultural experience. This route takes place at the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre, where the N//aoh Djao retail outlet is housed.

!Xun & Khwe Artists

These artists currently do not have a communal studio – a great need for them. Their printing press is housed at the Sguzu WHAG Print Studio at the William Humphreys Art Gallery,Kimberley till such a time that they have a studio space in their own town settlement. Dumisani Mabaso has been training two young printmakers from the community – the idea being that they can help the artists with their printing when they have their own print studio.
They market their art though N//aoh Djao San Art & Craft from the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre.

Since December 2005 to the present SASI has been running the N//aoh Djao Art and Craft Programme, assisting the artists and crafters to eventually operate on their own.

“N//aoh” is !Xun for “hand” and “Djao” is Khwe for “work”.