"Hidden Rivers speaks to people’s lives that have also changed their course due to factors out of their control."
Artist: Kent Andreasen
Project: Hidden Rivers
with the help of:
@constantiaheritage
@clarita_louise
@amyayanda
To support the Constantia Heritage Project, donate on their website
"The rivers of Constantia flow down from Table Mountain after the rains. They have sustained communities over centuries, providing much needed water for farming, washing clothes and children’s muddy feet after a day of playing in the fields. These waters have irrigated gardens of flowers to be sold on the streets of Cape Town by the well known Adderley Street flower sellers. They have nourished soil where fruits and vegetables have grown to fill pots and stomachs of those who lived in the valley.
The rivers hold many memories and stories of the people of Constantia. While the rivers have remained over the years, they, like many things, have changed. They have changed their course due to development projects, like the construction of the M3 highway. Some have dried up temporarily, due to drought or a particularly hot summer."
"This [project] speaks to people’s lives that have also changed their course due to factors out of their control - the people who were removed from Constantia because of Apartheid’s racial zoning policy: the Group Areas Act. The river motif further captures the complex and global history contained in the place now known as Constantia. The Spaanschemat River that continues to flow through the valley was named after a Spanish coin which was called the Spaanschemat and is indicative of the commercial value of this area to global trade in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The [project] acknowledges this diverse history and the lives of those who have populated the valley. It honours their contribution to the Constantia Valley and engages with a past that has been hidden from many for years. Like redirecting a river, the Constantia Heritage and Education project brings these stories back to Constantia so that this living heritage may be brought into public focus."
© Kent Andreasen
Editor : Ecaterina Rusu