:: He Siten ǂAn Hn Sin !Khwa-ka /Kwa ~ And We Knew The Name Of The Rain ::

Kaggen    I Am Rain    Name of the Rain    Muisca    Boy    Ready    Cacao    Laugh    Salvic Voyager    Chaos

:: 2017 :: 50cm x 50cm :: Acrylics, Inks and Markers on Canvas ::

During a visit to South Africa in April 2017, my husband and I had the good fortune of visiting some Bushman rock art sites. One of these was a very secluded and sacred locale where the Veldmansvlei river emerges from the Langeberg mountains (see also this artwork). This piece, which was given to my husband for his 35th birthday, expresses the silent awe we felt for the place, and the special moments we shared there, swimming in the dark waters and beholding the rock art which surrounded the pool. At one point, I swam towards the waterfall hidden behind a shield of rock, and spoke aloud the word for ‘rain’ or ‘water’ in the /Xam Bushman language: !khwa. I wondered if this was the first time the word had been heard in this place for a thousand years…

The title in the proper orthography of the /Xam language is he sitən ǂan hŋ siŋ !khwa-ka /kwa:, meaning literally 'then we knew (and) have seen the name of the rain'.

i spoke
the name of the rain
to the waterfall
hidden in the rocks...
!khwa
the first time heard
!khwa
since the painters
melted into memory...

in dreams
the mantis came
and gave to us
an ever-flowing stream
upon our eyes…

Name of the Rain

Veldmansvlei

The sacred water at Veldmansvlei, Riversdale, Western Cape, South Africa
The rock art is located in various alcoves around the upper pool in the upper centre

Name of the Rain Detail

 

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