Karoo Transvisions in Energy

Part of Stefan and Erika Cramers work on informing and capacitating people in the Karoo on the issue of fracking involved working with local artists. As they were searching for a public home for one of these artworks, the beautiful quilt featured on our 2014 Annual Report exploring the issue of fracking through the ancient story from /Xam mythology, they were offered the opportunity to curate a whole exhibition for which they also created this booklet:

Karoo Transvisions in Energy exhibition booklet

Here Stefan shares the something of this experience:

"When we searched for a public home for this magnificent quilt, the local museum offered a space, which turned out to be an entire room to be dedicated to art work opposing the fracking industry’s onslaught on the Karoo.

With stunning lino-cuts also from the First People Artists from Nieu Bethesda, the room needed a solid and factual foundation of fracking information, in visual form.

As it happened, I developed a classical „writer’s block“. How to put years of research and tons of information into six panels without overwhelming the visitor? In the end it was the graphic designer’s advice: „Make it short and simple, there is no space for long-winding sentences. Don’t mind your colleagues, think of an innocent visitor.“

That did the trick, and between the two of us, we developed beautiful explanation panels. The exhibition was an instant success, with visitors asking for information to take home, to study in more detail. I thus produced a glossy booklet that is sold at the museum, but also in other outlets in Graaff-Reinet and the Karoo. Printing costs were all covered by local sponsors who were approached to advertise in this attractive format."