Return to the Kalahari - The Hoerikwaggo Chronicles (Origin Story)

ABHISHEK CHOUDHURY | KABIR BAVIKATTE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS National Khoi-San Council for their support in undertaking this project.

Law+Environment+Design Laboratory for enabling constant design feedback through the development of the graphic narrative.

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for their financial support in the production.

Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology for supporting the artist and providing an ecosystem beyond the lab.

Natural Justice (Lawyers for Communities and the Environment) for their never-ending support and guidance through the project.

REVIEW COPY, NOT FOR COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION Heroes Project Vision by Lesle Jansen and Dr. Kabir Bavikatte Written by Dr. Kabir Bavikatte Art by Abhishek Choudhury Lettering by Malvika Tewari Edited by Deepta Sateesh & Arpitha Kodiveri Designed and Housed at Law+Environment+Design Laboratory, an initiative of Natural Justice and Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology.

THE KHOI-SAN AND THE HEROES PROJECT The Khoi-San are the First Nations people of Southern Africa.

The Khoi-San were dispossessed of their lands and their cultural and spiritual heritage as a result of colonialism and later apartheid. The traumatic effects of these episodes in Khoi-San history continues to this day and is manifested as social dysfunction within the community.

The Heroes Project works with the Khoi-San communities to develop creative ways to heal the trauma of the Khoi-San. The Hoerikwaggo Chronicles are a series of comics/graphic-narratives developed by the Heroes Project to revitalize and contemporize Khoi-San myths and legends as way of assisting the community to heal their historical trauma.

The Hoerikwaggo Chronicles is a collaborative effort between Natural Justice (South Africa) and the Law+Environment+Design Laboratory (India). The Lab is an initiative of Natural Justice and the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, and the project, a co-created endeavor of the two organizations.

The Hoerikwaggo Chronicles narrates the tale of four young people Eli, Bobby, Jacqui and Leo growing up in the Cape Flats. It chronicles their adventures and trials in the quest to find themselves and reclaim their heritage with the help of the latter day shaman Kaggen.

The story unfolds as a conversation between the everyday reality of the young people and the parallel world of Khoi-San myths, legends and magical beasts. Return to the Kalahari is the first volume of the Hoerikwaggo Chronicles.