Khoi-San Paintings & Prints from Botswana
We are always excited to discover a new (to us) group of artists. Such it was in the summer of 2006, when we first saw the work of Xhose Noxo (Cgoise), Qatcao Moses, Gamnqoa Kukama and other artists from the Khoi-San people of Botswana. Their visit to the US was sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which provided the following information:
The famous Khoi-San hunter-gatherers produced some of the world's most celebrated figurative art, the Bushman rock paintings. Their descendants live around the Kalahari Desert, a sparsely populated desert area that includes Botswana.
Successful efforts have been made to provide these folk artists with materials to produce paintings and woodblock prints depicting the hunter gatherer vision of the ancestral Khoi-San. With forceful imagery and composition, this figurative art yields astounding and beautiful results.
Green Springbok
SKU: QGK-1501
Khoisan Artists, various
Qgam Khaxa (b. 1965, signs QGQM) - Khoisan people, Ghanzi, Botswana
Reduction linocut, #11/16, 2002
(11 1/4" h. x 17"w. image size on 19 3/4" x 22 1/2" sheet)
Born in the Ghanzi district, Qgam joined the Kuru Art Project in 1997. Through his art, he portrays a deep knowledge of the animals, the veld and the traditions of his people. He is a good traditional dancer and often takes part in dance ceremonies in the village. Along with the other Kuru artists, his work has been exhibited worldwide. He attended the Thapong International Artists workshop in Botswana in 1999 and found it a very enriching experience. He enjoyed working with different artists but seems not to have been influenced by their styles, which differs widely from his own. (Bio courtesy of Kuru Art Project).
Porcupine and Babies
SKU: GQO-1501
Gamnqoa Kukama
Reduction linocut, #7/17, 2014
(7 7/8" h. x 11" w. image size on 12 3/4" x 15 3/4" sheet)
Porcupines - Linocut print
SKU: QHX-1501
Qhaghoo Xare (b. 1971)- Khoisan people, Ghanzi, Botswana
(7 3/4" h. x 11 3/4" w. image size on 11 1/4" x 15" sheet)
Qhaqhoo joined the Kuru Art Project as a young teenager in 1991 as one of the first artists of the project. Through the years he maintained a style with clear cut edges and clean flat spaces. His work reflects a simplicity that is peculiar to him. In his simplified animal and plant forms lies a resemblance to the rock art that was done centuries ago by his ancestors. His work has been received favorably and has been exhibited together with other Kuru Art worldwide. Qhaqhoo was invited to participate in the Intergrafia'94 World Award Winners Gallery, in Katowice, Poland and in Ronneby, Sweden. His work was also accepted for the MTG'94 (International Print Triennial) Krakow, Poland, Intergrafia '94, Branska Bystrica, Slovakia and Print Triennial '94, Consumenta'95 in Nuremberg, Germany. (Bio courtesy of Kuru Art Project).
Gamnqoa Kukama (b. 1955) - Khoisan people, Ghanzi, Botswana
(4 1/4" h x 9 3/8"w)
Dreaming of Kudu Browsing - linocut print
SKU: CGM-1801
Cgoma Simon (1958 - ) - Khoisan people, Ghanzi, Botswana
(image size 7 3/4" h. x 9 1/2" w. on 13" x 15" sheet)
Cgoma was born on a farm in the Ghanzi district and lived most of her life in D'Kar, where her parents moved when she was still a small girl. She loves to be creative and used to make ostrich eggshell bead work and even tried her hand at fabric painting and embroidery before becoming an artist. (Bio. courtesy of Kuru Art)
Lapwing and Elephant - Linocut print
SKU: SBE-1801
Sobe Qaragae ( 1974 - ) - Khoisan people, Ghanzi, Botswana
Reduction linocut, #11/40,n.d.
(Image size 7 1/2" h. x 5" w. on 10" x 7 1/4" sheet)
Sobe worked for many years making sand candles with Kalahari Sandworks, a project producing crafts in D'Kar. He has a great talent for drawing and the intricate patterns he carved on the candles showed a creativity that could not be missed. In 2018 Sobe wanted to expand his field and joined the Kuru Art Project as an artist, where he is now making his first lino cuts and oil paintings. (Bio. courtesy of Kuru Art).
Ncari (Lark) linocut print
SKU: KSH-1801
Reduction linocut, #3/5, 2010
(Image size 4 5/8" h. x 4 7/8" w. on 6" x 6" sheet)
Thamae Kaashe (1979 -)
Thamae's artistic career started when he joined the Kuru Art Project as an artist in 1990. Since then his work developed through different stages, from fantastic swirling compositions in his early years to colourful work with a lot of small detail, to art representing social and environmental issues such as the linocuts which won him the first prizes in Botswana's National President's competitions for 2013 and 2014. He often paints extremely large canvasses but he also enjoys making lino prints, etchings and lithographs. The process of mono printing suits his specific style very well. Together with the Kuru art project Thama's work had been exhibited worldwide. (Bio courtesy of Kuru Art Project)
People at Home
SKU: XHO-1
Xhose Noxo (Cgoise)
Xhose Noxo - Khoisan people, Ghanzi, Botswana
Oil on canvas (46 1/2" h x 31"w)
Botswana postage stamp designed by the late artist, Xhose Noxo (Cgoise), 2004
Africa, Botswana
Painting, Prints and Works on Paper
Folk and Intuitive Art, Fine Art
Related Exhibitions
Africa Modern
May 18, 2016 to October 8, 2016