QAUQAUA

Coex’ae Qgam (Dada), 1994

Publisher: The Artists’ Press, Kuru Art Project

ISBN: 0-620-20194-0

Dimensions: 26.5 (H) x 28.5 (W) cm

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The story of Qauqaua was selected for this book by the artists of the Kuru Art Project, from a number of traditional Naro stories gathered in D’kar during a story-telling workshop in 1994. It is a rendition of a Naro folk tale and told by Dada and was the first book to be published in Naro and English. All translations from Naro to English and vice-versa were conducted at the Kuru Cultural Centre and formed part of the Naro Language Program managed by Hessel and Coby Visser, where a written language was being created from the oral tradition.

The book contains eleven colour images which are hand printed aluminium plate lithographs, drawn by the following artists of the Kuru Art project: Thamae Setshogo, Coex’ae Qgam (Dada), Qwaa Mangana, Cgose Ncoxo, Coex’ae Bob (Enni) and Ncg’abe Tãse (Nxabe). Mark Attwood worked with the artists at their studio in D’Kar, proofing the litho plates on an etching press. The drawn plates were taken to Johannesburg where the edition was printed. Each impression was hand inked and printed on a hand-crank litho press. A total of 61 plates were used to complete 11 prints.

Linocuts by the Kuru artists Sobe Sobe, Thamae Kaashe, and Qhaeqhao Moses were scanned and combined with text, before being hand printed on a Vandercook letterpress proof-press.

The book was hand printed by Mark Attwood, Paul Emmanuel and Bill Hosterman at the Artists’ Press, Johannesburg, on 250 gsm white Arches paper in a limited edition of 100 plus 20 artists’ proofs.

The books have been bound in full leather, using goatskins from the Kalahari. These skins have been vegetable tanned in D’Kar, using the Elandsboontjie root.

In 2001 Qauqaua was selected for the “Voyages Exhibition” of the Smithsonian Institute Libraries and was listed by the Grolier Book Club as one of the top ten highlights of the exhibition.