TOUCHING TRIBUTE: The Keiskamma Tapestry Exhibition saw ‘The Marriage Altar’ piece on display in the Courtnay-Latimer Hall at the East London Museum. The Hamburg-based community art project says the paintings surrounding the central panel depict grandmothers interviewed by the artists who then portrayed their hopes, fears and dreams. The central panel is that of the earliest treated HIV/Aids patients who later got married. Picture: AMANDA NANO
Panel 1:
Ikhwelo (setting up the date) shows the young boys in costumes dancing and singing to let the community know about the coming initiation.
Panel 2:
Umtshothso shows the initiation process first in the kraal killing a goat, them the boy being taken to the forest and a man signalling the circumcision has been done, and the girls then going to the river to wash.
Panel 3:
Umdigi celebration when the boy comes back as a man, returning to his community
