Beautiful Sculptures

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Thereza Masseka, along with other !Xun women, children and elderly walked for over 6 months through Angola to flee from the fighting and seek refuge in the Caprivi Strip.

We as people are all sculpted by the emotional circumstances of our lives. In the body of the aged, the natural story comes through; it can no longer hide injury with muscle or mask pain with stamina, the body of the aged cannot lie, and the scars it carries becomes the map of a life.


The figures represented here, lived through the greatest of the tragic endeavours of man. War. Their lives were scared by combat, grief, and the loss of family, culture and homeland. But each of them is also a testament to courage and to the sacrifices that one generation endures for the future of another.

As sculptures, these individuals now represent history; the static human form occupying space is also an emotional vehicle that can vigorously represent a human condition.

The sculptures displayed here we created by artist, Marius Jansen van Vuuren from members of the !Xun and Khwe people of South Africa and Namibia who lived through the events depicted in the play Son of the Wind. He describes his work thus; “As an artist, I believe that you cannot create emotion, but you can create form with the sole purpose of evoking an emotional response.”

The creators of Son of the Wind are deeply thankful to those who shared their bodies and their stories and to the artist who brought them forth. In future, the sculptures will be returned to the San communities of Platfontein and Omega One to stand as eternal symbols of courage, honour and cultural heritage.
-M. Brodiaea

Kumama Mukua a traditional leader of the Khwe living in Platfontein.  He fought with the Portuguese in Angola and the South African Defence Force in Namibia.  Kumama endured over 20 years of combat.