4 minute read
The Cosmic Echoes journey in South Africa
BY KHOMOTSO MOKORI (SKAO)
Since its launch at the IAU General Assembly last year, the Cosmic Echoes: A Shared Sky Indigenous Art Exhibition has continued to travel across South Africa.
A succession to the 2014 Indigenous art-astronomy exhibition, Shared Sky, Cosmic Echoes is a celebration of the ancient cultural wisdom of the communities that live near the SKA telescopes, who have been observing the night sky and explaining what they see through art and stories for thousands of years.
The genesis of Cosmic Echoes, curated by Sylvia Vollenhoven, takes us back to early 2024, when artists worked with local Indigenous youth and Elders in Carnarvon to prepare for the exhibition. These workshops produced both visual and performance art. Meanwhile in Western Australia, the SKAO and CSIRO worked with the Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal Corporation to commission visual art pieces from the Wajarri Yamaji People, the Traditional Owners and Native Title Holders of the land where the SKA-Low telescope is located.
After its successful launch at the IAU General Assembly, the Cosmic Echoes tour kicked off at the iconic Artscape Theatre in Cape Town in September 2024, where it was the key inspiration in a Heritage Month Festival called Reach for the Stars. The exhibition complemented the festival’s Indigenous music, performance, dance and poetry, creating an immersive cultural experience aimed at educating the public about the art’s origins and significance.
The exhibition then made a meaningful stop in Carnarvon, a small town in the Northern Cape Province close to the SKA-Mid site, in early 2025. All the South African Cosmic Echoes facilitators and artists are KhoiSan people, mostly from that region. With an innovative intergenerational outreach programme, Carnarvon youth and elders engaged deeply with the exhibition’s theme, exploring the night sky’s role in Indigenous cultures through community-led events. A joint venture with the Carnarvon Astro Guides enabled participants to observe constellations, guided by both Indigenous knowledge and modern astronomy. At the Exhibition opening in Carnarvon local Riel Dancers, the youth artists and their elders entertained guests with performance and storytelling of how the stars, Moon and galaxies were used by the Elders to determine time and seasons.
The next stop for Cosmic Echoes was the Wits Origins Centre Museum in Johannesburg. A diverse audience including professors, art scholars, young students, and community members, took part in the launch ceremony. To honour the historic Soweto uprising events of 16 June 1976 – a turning point in South African history— a special Cosmic Echoes event at Wits University featured historic student leaders engaging with their modern counterparts. The discussions connected celestial knowledge with contemporary life, fostering an understanding of how the stars have always governed our spiritual essence.
Visitor Vivienne Abrahams of Meadows International captured the exhibition’s impact: “Sylvia Vollenhoven and Basil Appollis bring the night sky’s magic to life. The artists’ vivid imaginations and enchanting storytelling offered a truly spiritual experience. I now see the night sky with new, bright eyes.”
Most recently, the Sol Plaatje University (SPU) in the capital of the Northern Cape, Kimberley, hosted Cosmic Echoes. The opening was planned to coincide with the end of South Africa’s National Science Week and the historic day in the 1950s when thousands of women marched to protest against the pass laws. As part of this Women’s Day programme, SPU chose to honour KhoiSan cultural icon Ouma Katrina Esau. It was especially poignant because she is featured in one of the Cosmic Echoes artworks, a striking painting titled My Ma se Taal (My Mother’s Language). This portrait by artist Junior Oliphant, a core piece of the exhibition, now holds even greater significance, as it was the first time the young artist could meet Ouma Katrina face-to-face and pose with her, very proudly, next to her artistic likeness.
This encounter not only brought the narrative full circle but also underscored the power of Cosmic Echoes in connecting generations and cultures – a truly resonant milestone on its journey through South Africa.
After its South Africa tour, the exhibition will jet off overseas to continue its global journey in Australia.
