Almost half a century before Dutch settlement at the Cape, sailors had already been coming ashore along the Cape coast - gathering plants to heal themselves of scurvy and other ailments, aided by the Khoekhoe's knowledge of of the area’s indigenous healing plants. With the assistance of UCT’s Department of Botany and the Bolus Herbarium,we’ve identified eight of these specimens, each with surprising relevancy for an assortment of everyday ailments. We invite you to discover the plants and their properties in our campus’ very own garden apothecary
Iced tea for refreshments made with herbs sourced from Bertram Garden, after Bianca's introduction to our own Campus Apothecary.
Mariam's Tree Workshops
We have a variety of English Oaks on campus. Because of the high South African temperatures, these trees grow faster than their English family back home, and their centers start rotting over a long period of time. The center part of the wood - the heart- is affected by this occurrence - and hollowed out over time.Cecil John Rhodes did not take this in account when he planted them, and every oak on campus is a little worse for wear because of his choice.
Tree: Phoenix canariensis, Mariam Moosa, Creative workshop for trees, 2014, Ink on paper. This work gives trees a voice. By allowing a tree to draw, make its own mark and express itself, it is being set free. The marks made are guided by the wind and a delicate tree drawing is achieved.
Tree: Populus simonii, Stephani Müller, 2014, Close observation. Arbitrary information collected, noted, seen and recognized of tree to uncover its identity.
Tree: Platanus acerifolius, CJ Chandler , étonnez-moi!, 2014. Drawing from Hans-Ulrich Obrist's Do it, this work investigates the effect that art and artists have on the trees of Hiddingh campus. I invite you to work into the hardground layer on this plate as if it were the bark of the adjacent tree.
Tree: Platanus acerifolius, Roné-Mari Botha, Breath, 2014, Performance. I am trying to better understand the relationship we have with trees, breathing and pollution, in an urban setting. I am fascinated by Plantanus x acerfolia's high tolerance for air pollution, and yet in the same breath causing lung irritation and breathing difficulties. By providing my tree with a massage I want to foster a deeper understanding, which to a similar degree, is as ironic as the nature of my tree. My futile attempt to provide it with some of the health benefits of a massage, but with no real benefit for a tree.
Pippa Skotnes, 2011, Penguin book, 100 books about penguins.
Fritha Langerman, 2011, Bird for the library, Collected objects and mixed media.
Jo Voysey, 2013, Curious creature, Mercurochrome, gentian violet and Potassium Permanganate.
Dillon Marsh, 2003, Beetle, Video, Duration: 4min 41sec.
Passionate bird watcher, Mel Tripp, from the Cape Bird Club, guides us around campus on the lookout for which bird species Hiddingh campus can deliver.
Flies are one of the main creatures involved with the decomposition of our bodies when we die. My mock scientific labels each refer to a time when I felt close to death. It is an imaginary documentation of the flies that could be participating in the decomposition after death, commemorating death's role in our lives and the bugs which disintegrate bodies, recycling them back to the Earth. Flies, pins, paper, ink, foam & wooden box
Pippa Skotnes, 2011, Penguin book, 100 books about penguins. Thuli Gamedze, 2014, Wasp, Photographic enlargement of dead wasp onto fibre photographic paper. Fritha Langerman, 2011, Bird for the library, Collected objects and mixed media.
The Hiddingh Hall Bird Identification Unit: Armed with cameras, Honours in Curatorship students captured a few bird specimens on camera last Friday, and identified them using Google Image Search.
Christopher Swift, 2008, Wood Horns. Adrienne van Eeden-Wharton, Fall, 2008, Cyanotype impressions. Fall involves the systematic documentation of leaf specimens, collected from historically significant or socially interesting places, from tree species introduced into South Africa as both direct and indirect effects of Dutch and British colonial enterprises. The project includes references to the disciplining and/or transformation of the local environment and takes the form of an
Whistle for calling animals, from the Kirby Collection
Whistle for calling animals, from the Kirby Collection
Almost half a century before Dutch settlement at the Cape, sailors had already been coming ashore along the Cape coast - gathering plants to heal themselves of scurvy and other ailments, aided by the Khoekhoe's knowledge of of the area’s indigenous healing plants. With the assistance of UCT’s Department of Botany and the Bolus Herbarium,we’ve identified eight of these specimens, each with surprising relevancy for an assortment of everyday ailments. We invite you to discover the plants and their properties in our campus’ very own garden apothecary
Iced tea for refreshments made with herbs sourced from Bertram Garden, after Bianca's introduction to our own Campus Apothecary.
Mariam's Tree Workshops
We have a variety of English Oaks on campus. Because of the high South African temperatures, these trees grow faster than their English family back home, and their centers start rotting over a long period of time. The center part of the wood - the heart- is affected by this occurrence - and hollowed out over time.Cecil John Rhodes did not take this in account when he planted them, and every oak on campus is a little worse for wear because of his choice.
Tree: Phoenix canariensis, Mariam Moosa, Creative workshop for trees, 2014, Ink on paper. This work gives trees a voice. By allowing a tree to draw, make its own mark and express itself, it is being set free. The marks made are guided by the wind and a delicate tree drawing is achieved.
Tree: Populus simonii, Stephani Müller, 2014, Close observation. Arbitrary information collected, noted, seen and recognized of tree to uncover its identity.
Tree: Platanus acerifolius, CJ Chandler , étonnez-moi!, 2014. Drawing from Hans-Ulrich Obrist's Do it, this work investigates the effect that art and artists have on the trees of Hiddingh campus. I invite you to work into the hardground layer on this plate as if it were the bark of the adjacent tree.
Tree: Platanus acerifolius, Roné-Mari Botha, Breath, 2014, Performance. I am trying to better understand the relationship we have with trees, breathing and pollution, in an urban setting. I am fascinated by Plantanus x acerfolia's high tolerance for air pollution, and yet in the same breath causing lung irritation and breathing difficulties. By providing my tree with a massage I want to foster a deeper understanding, which to a similar degree, is as ironic as the nature of my tree. My futile attempt to provide it with some of the health benefits of a massage, but with no real benefit for a tree.
Pippa Skotnes, 2011, Penguin book, 100 books about penguins.
Fritha Langerman, 2011, Bird for the library, Collected objects and mixed media.
Jo Voysey, 2013, Curious creature, Mercurochrome, gentian violet and Potassium Permanganate.
Dillon Marsh, 2003, Beetle, Video, Duration: 4min 41sec.
Passionate bird watcher, Mel Tripp, from the Cape Bird Club, guides us around campus on the lookout for which bird species Hiddingh campus can deliver.
Flies are one of the main creatures involved with the decomposition of our bodies when we die. My mock scientific labels each refer to a time when I felt close to death. It is an imaginary documentation of the flies that could be participating in the decomposition after death, commemorating death's role in our lives and the bugs which disintegrate bodies, recycling them back to the Earth. Flies, pins, paper, ink, foam & wooden box
Pippa Skotnes, 2011, Penguin book, 100 books about penguins. Thuli Gamedze, 2014, Wasp, Photographic enlargement of dead wasp onto fibre photographic paper. Fritha Langerman, 2011, Bird for the library, Collected objects and mixed media.
The Hiddingh Hall Bird Identification Unit: Armed with cameras, Honours in Curatorship students captured a few bird specimens on camera last Friday, and identified them using Google Image Search.
Christopher Swift, 2008, Wood Horns. Adrienne van Eeden-Wharton, Fall, 2008, Cyanotype impressions. Fall involves the systematic documentation of leaf specimens, collected from historically significant or socially interesting places, from tree species introduced into South Africa as both direct and indirect effects of Dutch and British colonial enterprises. The project includes references to the disciplining and/or transformation of the local environment and takes the form of an
Whistle for calling animals, from the Kirby Collection
Whistle for calling animals, from the Kirby Collection