The team behind the KKNK’s multi-award-winning Karoo Kaarte project is inviting all Oudtshoorn residents to share their memories or other interesting facts about the town’s train station with the team.
These stories can include special memories of riding the train as a child, experiences and knowledge of people who worked at the train station, or any other information. The Karoo Kaarte research team is looking forward to collecting as many stories as possible from this time in Oudtshoorn’s history. Diverse perspectives are welcomed, and anyone can participate.
Following the success of the gripping Karoo Kaarte theatre productions Droomkraan Kronieke (2023) and Op hierie dag (2022) this year the theatre team leaves the traditional theatre spaces and creates Die Swartmerrie, a brand-new site-specific production centred around the once fabled, but not dilapidated Oudtshoorn railway. It is a surreal and poetic walking tour that takes the audience on a journey at dusk along Oudtshoorn’s railway tracks, where a series of surprising performances awaits. Local artists involved include Theo Witbooi, Janion Kennedy, Chantell Phillipus, Jermaine Bruintjies and Melikhaya Blou, with script and direction by Tiffany Saterdaght and Neil Coppen.
Karoo Kaarte is an innovative multi-disciplinary arts programme that comes to life in Oudtshoorn since 2021. “The success of Karoo Kaarte lies in the fact that it is managed by people whose hearts and arms are open to involve everyone from the community who wants to participate”, said renowned theatre critic Diane de Beer after the KKNK in 2023.
This multi-award-winning community project’s core revolves around Oudtshoorn stories that have not been told or documented before. Stories about personal spaces, memories from childhood and traditional knowledge of this Klein Karoo town and its people. A living archive is compiled by all participants in this exciting project and a platform is created that brings local talent to the fore, to broaden the national spotlight and include artists from home soil.
Theatre and visual arts are harnessed as creative processes, supported by research from Karoo Kaarte and its archive, to compile a special programme for the KKNK. This content has stolen hearts over the past two festivals with memories, dreams, and children’s games unique to Oudtshoorn residents. In addition to Die Swartmerrie, the team also presents two exhibitions, a graphic novel, a mural, and walking tours with the help of the Karoo Kaarte app in 2024.
Karoo Kaarte has received various awards, including the BASA IDC Community Development Award (2023), the Western Cape Arts and Culture Prize for Most Innovative Arts Festival (2023) and the KKNK Herrie Prize for innovation or groundbreaking work (2023 & 2022). Karoo Kaarte was nominated for four Pendorings (2023) and this project’s theatre productions, Droomkraan Kronieke (2023) and Op hierie dag (2022), were nominated for more than ten KKNK Kannas and five kykNET Fiëstas. The ensemble of Droomkraan Kronieke was awarded with the Woordtrofee for best ensemble at the Toyota US Woordfees in 2023.
Karoo Kaarte is a KKNK project, supported by the Jannie Mouton Foundation, Het Jan Marais Nationale Fonds, NATi, Absa, the Western Cape Government, and the Oudtshoorn Municipality.
Feel free to share your memories of Oudtshoorn’s trains and train station for the Karoo Kaarte projects and archive before Friday 23 February with Tiffany Saterdaght via email to tiffany@kunste.org.za or send a WhatsApp to 062 425 6165. Participants are welcome to send voice notes, or any written contributions are also welcomed.
The 28th KKNK takes place in Oudtshoorn from Saturday 23 to Sunday 31 March. For the complete festival programme visit www.kknk.co.za and tickets are available from Webtickets. For more information, keep an eye on the KKNK’s social media platforms, visit the website or contact 044 203 8600, send an email to info@kknk.co.za or a WhatsApp to 065 285 2337.
Photo: Oudtshoorn resident Theo Witbooi is seen in the Karoo Kaarte site-specific theatre experience, Die Swartmerrie at the 28th KKNK. © Ryan Dammert