In our series, VillageLIFE, Janet-Lynn Vorster takes us around the artist town of Baardskeerdersbos, in South Africa’s Western Cape region.
Why travel to the artist town of Baardskeerdersbos?
- The low-down: Baardskeerdersbos is a rural community known for its wild fynbos flowers, its community of artists and art fairs, and delicious authentic local cuisines.
- The brightest highlight: Whether you like wildflowers or artists painting wildflowers, you will love the tranquillity of Baardskeerdersbos.
- Intrepid destination: This area is quite off the beaten track, except during art fairs but that is a great time to visit.
- Globerovers score (10 is highest): I love this area for many reasons. It is also not far away from the beautiful coastline and the wineries. Great area to chill out for a few days and mingle with the friendly locals. I’ll score it 8.2 out of 10.
B’bos, as Baardskeerdersbos is fondly known, the art and soul of the Overberg, is an artist’s dream and home to the legendary Baardskeerdersbos Art Route. It is a quick 25 minutes’ drive from Gansbaai, en-route between Gansbaai and Cape Agulhas. Look out for the turnoff from Gansbaai to Baardskeerdersbos, opposite Uilenkraalsmond.
Baardskeerdersbos, directly translated, means beard shaver’s forest, due to small spider-like creatures that apparently cut human hair to use in their nests. But don’t worry. People in B’Bos still have their hair and beards.
B’Bos, a fynbos (floral) biome, artists’ mecca, farming community and fertile valley, had a population of 103 residents in 2011. It is around 250 at present. It has a feeling of timeless peace about it, rural and secluded. Were it not for the paved road sections and reduction in the speed limit, you could almost miss it as you drive through.
The flora in the area includes very rare Proteas, Ericas, Orchids, Moraeas, Gladiolus and many species listed on the IUCN red data list. Both spring and autumn are good seasons to view these flowers, but there are species flowering all year round.
The area around B’Bos is frequented by both birding enthusiasts and wine lovers.
As one of the artists so humorously puts it, he loves B’Bos as it is the only South African town where there are more pubs than churches. Whether this is true or not I cannot say for sure, but B’Bos does indeed only have one church and more than one pub.
The church, built in 1921, has been declared a national monument. It is famous for its little dove cote, a miniature version of the church, on the wall in front of the church. People travel from far and wide to attend the annual sheep head festival, where exactly 100 sheep heads are prepared in a special oven by the Swellendam “Skaapkopgilde” (sheep head guild) using their own unique and secret recipe and method. For those who do not have the stomach for this, they do prepare many other delicious local cuisines at this event too. Add traditional Afrikaans music and dancing, and this festival captures the essence of this town perfectly: an eclectic mix of yesteryear, artists and traditional Afrikaans culture.
Buy fresh produce, arts and crafts, and delicious locally-made food on the last Saturday of every month at the farmers’ market in the Strandveld Pub and Grill.
Niel Jonker hosts a two-day sourdough bread-making experience at his home. It is perfect for people who are feeling trapped or want a change from a lifestyle that does not feed the soul, or just need to unwind. Niel will enthuse you with a new awareness around food consciousness and slow living. He believes that life is not a head-case thing, it must just be lived, and that doing practical things like baking bread loosens the hands and creativity and frees the mind. There are many life lessons to be gained from baking artisan bread. Observe how yeast has a life of its own. Understand that bread is a humble contribution from one individual to the group, which is what bread symbolises in society.
The development plan for B’Bos is to preserve it as an artist town, together with farriers, metal workers and other traditional jobs.
I love B’Bos for many reasons, one being the quirky and unconventional artists. I find them extraordinary, and experiencing life through their eyes a treat. I attended the Art Route in September 2017, and had the pleasure of meeting every one of them and viewing their work. The Art Route put B’Bos on the map.
So, let me introduce you to the artists as they share their art, words of wisdom, and the reasons they think you will love B’Bos.
Brenda Parker: Art to Brenda is an object or artwork that gives the viewer pleasure and joy and evokes some positive emotional response. Brenda is a jeweller designing once-off pieces. After 35 years, she still enjoys the process. “Follow your gut feel and do what you love and what you have a passion for.”
Brenda visited B’Bos in 2014 for an Art Route weekend and totally fell in love with the place. She says a good reason to visit B’Bos is to experience the tranquillity and sense of timelessness in this corner of the Overberg.
Philip John: “Art for me is exposing myself to a creative process where I try to allow the medium, and serendipity, to lead me, in the process uncovering aspects of myself and reality: the unexpected, the surprising and the beautiful.” Philip focuses on printmaking, mainly monotypes, but has started working in cow dung.
Philip ended up in B’Bos as a result of a whole series of events. He says the unpretentiousness of the place appealed to him, and he has learnt to appreciate the value of open space, the minimum of lighting at night, and stillness.
Liz van den Berg: “Art makes people feel good about the world around them.” Liz does Gyotaku, which is fish printing, and a Japanese traditional technique which originated on the fishing boats. Fish are laid out and their fins are opened into a natural-looking position, swiped from nose to tail with ink, then paper is dropped over the fish and the image is transferred to the paper. It was traditionally used as a counting- and record keeping method. The only part that may be touched up by hand is the eye. It has a spiritual aspect too, apparently giving fish unhindered passage to the afterlife.
Liz Likes the quietness of B’Bos. It has small town authentic charm and is close to some fantastic places and fabulous bird life as she is enthusiastic about birding.
Kali van der Merwe: Kali is a name she gave herself at age 30, representing the Indian goddess of creation and destruction. She is very “out of the box”, but she says she is “not sure what box they are referring to”. For Kali, art is a visual language. Her mainstay is creative photography, with manipulation in camera and post production, combined with sculpture, text and more, providing a sensory experience. Gearing for a career in the sciences, and being very fashion conscious, she would not be seen dead in a white coat, so she chose the arts instead.
Kali came to B’Bos as she needed a quiet, contemplative rural environment to tap into her own- and the collective unconscious. She says the drawcard to B’Bos remains the quaint, small, unspoilt rural village, still in its artist phase. She lists incredible landscapes, the sea close by, rare fynbos and the beautiful village as good reasons to visit, together with friendly, genuine, unpretentious and welcoming people.
Amanda Jephson: Amanda does etching, oil painting, and mixed media graphic 2D visual work. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a while ago (she is in remission now) and did an interpretive still life called “Entropy”, which depicts a series of things breaking down using objects from the environment. Art is about expressing herself. Her style is expressionist and semi-abstract. “To be an artist, study it, and just do it, be prepared to be the black sheep in society. If it is your passion, just embrace it no matter what family or society says.”
Amanda and her husband saw an advert for the farm 22 years ago. She clearly remembers getting stuck in the mud, seeing a puffadder, and thinking the place was far too wild. Then she saw and fell in love with the little cottage, built in 1880 using mud bricks, with its original wooden beams. She says the old places in B’Bos, still unspoilt, are a wonderful attraction. Visitors come to B’Bos, she says, for the rural, unspoilt landscape, and are very attracted to the lifestyle, often popping by en route between the whale route and Aghulhas National Park.
Jan Vingerhoets: His art brand is known as Redeux, a wordplay on “redo”. Seeing landfills all over the world and all the waste, Jan decided to do something about it, and reuse, redo and recycle. He works in stone, wood, glass and metal, and will be working with plastic soon. Jan says art needs to be both functional as well as an heirloom, and have balance, shape and form. Coming from a highly stressed technical background, he found that going into the garage, putting on some music and working, was very relaxing. “Art is an expression of yourself and how you see the world. Art is more life than science is life”, he says. This is profound coming from someone with a scientific background. “Follow your heart and happiness.”
Jan arrived in B’Bos via the gravel road from Grootbos. Suddenly this valley appeared before him that he didn’t know existed, even though he had grown up in Cape Town. He could not face going back to the city, and came to B’Bos as it was the nicest spot they could find to live off the grid, near the sea, with plenty water in an amazing micro climate. He found the town full of nice friendly people with a zest for life. Jan rates the fynbos biome as the most unique in the world and a very good reason to visit B’Bos, and, of course, to find unique art in an unexpected place.
Joshua Miles: He is known for his reduction linos and monotypes: a printing process, with a big printing press. This process involves chiselling stencils out of a linoleum block, rolling them with ink, putting paper on top and then finally going through the printing press. He does four or five layers on top of each other. “Art is anything creative”, he says. He has always loved art, and there has never been anything else he wanted to do. “Keep on working and be honest with yourself.”
Joshua had friends who lived in the area, so he knew about this forgotten corner of the world. It was affordable, had leiwater (street furrows with running water) and incredible soil. He is a passionate gardener with over 50 fruit- and nut trees and a vegetable garden under irrigation, just far enough away from the sea not to be influenced by the salt air. He says it warrants a visit to see lots of artists, and experience pubs, good food, the tradition of boeremusic, dancing and people partying.
Coleen Emmenis: Coleen has renovated a restaurant, called Flip Flop Fish Den in Gansbaai, 25 km away. This is an art piece itself, as the walls inside and out are covered in Coleen’s murals and paintings. Coleen was the initiator of the art route, and started it together with Niel and Joshua. She paints what she sees in the area, and on the academic side she does mixed media sculptural work, using resins, different materials, wire work, wooden boxes and more. She likes a bit of mystery in her work so that imagination is also inspired. Art is her life, and she breathes and eats it. “Just go out and do 90% hard work and the talent will grow.”
Coleen lights up thinking about the old, unique stories from the original folk in the area, and says they are a treat. She says it is “unpolluted and just a stunning place to visit”.
Ivan Trollip: Ivan has many years of practical experience as a landscape artist, for which he is well known, working in both oil and acrylic. His subjects range from wildlife and florals to abstract. His paintings are vibrant and colourful.
Ivan draws inspiration from the environment around B’Bos which is more beautiful than one could possibly imagine.
Niel Jonker: Niel studied fine art, and learnt sculpture and bronze casting. He does not have a foundry of his own, but works with other foundries. He also works in plaster, earth and other mediums. He loves to paint landscapes outdoors, where he can hear the birds, meet people and escape for a while, and he takes his painting bag along wherever he goes, painting whenever he gets a chance. He likes to work fast and spontaneously, so his paintings are vital and alive, and he catches the energy of the scene, not the detail. Niel is very optimistic about life.
Niel came for the isolation. He enjoys the lifestyle, living and working in nature as we were originally intended to do. He says B’Bos is good for the soul. There are less distractions, it is cheaper, more creative, and more fulfilling than city life. He too came over the hill at Grootbos and could not believe what he saw. Come and experience the ecologically-minded and interesting alternative energy people. “Visit to walk and breathe. Close your eyes and listen. You are part of nature.”
If you would like to ship art home, or order truly beautiful South African art from abroad, Liz, Kali, Amanda, Coleen, Jan, Joshua, Ivan and Niel can most certainly assist you with this.
Niel says they are opening the town as a residency destination for other artist travellers to live amongst the artists, and share work and stories. Send an e-mail, connect, visit and feel welcome while you live a country-style life and share art.
While visiting B’Bos, I stayed at Die Kloof, a self-catering farm house situated in a ravine close to town. Surrounded by tall trees with a stream running by, it is very private, comfortable though not modern, and ideally situated to drive to many wonderful places within a one-hour radius, such as Gansbaai, Hermanus, Struisbaai and Cape Agulhas.
If you are staying in self-catering accommodation, there is an old-fashioned farm shop general dealer in the main road. It has all the basics: bread, milk, tinned foods, sweets, alcoholic- and non-alcoholic beverages, vegetables and meat. There is no ATM in B’Bos.
Eat at Marietjie’s Pub and Grill, Strandveld Pub, or Lokal which is a pop-up restaurant. I have eaten at Marietjie’s Pub and Grill twice now, and can vouch for a good, hearty South African steak, schnitzel, or spare ribs that will fill the hungriest of tummies. This is a favourite hangout for locals and visitors alike, and lending an ear to the local banter is quite entertaining.
If I had money lying in the bank, I would have bought a cottage in B’Bos and embraced the lifestyle there without thinking twice. I thoroughly fell in love with B’Bos and the people I met, and miss it already.
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Janet-Lynn is a numerologist by profession, and journalist, editor and photographer by hobby. She is the proud mother of three grown children and granny to three grandchildren.