Knysna Interactive Art Project – Finding Freedom in travel again

The recently launched ‘Knysna Interactive Art Project’ aims to display local talent and provide an opportunity to explore unseen/unknown places, ultimately encouraging visitors to branch out and explore the greater Knysna region.

Creating a scavenger hunt for local art in what was historically known as a world-class art region, visitors and locals can now search for unique pieces located at six iconic view sites identified as the perfect backdrops for selfies. These include:  

• Judah Square in Khayalethu, home to the biggest community of Rastafarian people in South Africa, will get a 2.5-metre statue of a Rastafari priest mounted at the entrance to greet visitors. Ceramicist Eugene Lewis under the mentorship of artist Suzanne du Toit, is already hard at work creating one of his Tribal Africa signature masterpieces.  
  
  
• Thesen Island will set the scene for a giant nautilus sculpture of stainless steel and indigenous wood in front of the SANParks offices. The installation will be the endpoint of an extended SANParks experience which will now include an indigenous educational garden and, of course, a viewing of the famous Knysna seahorse.  

• Belvidere and Brenton on Sea – two of greater Knysna’s most scenic spots, will benefit from stainless steel impressions of Knysna fynbos and butterflies.  
  
• Buffalo Bay, a prime swimming and surfing spot, is to be enhanced with the “Buffalo Bay Boardwalk,” a series of surfboards painted by local artists. Already a popular water sports destination, the interactive art will help turn this beach into a surfing icon.  
  
• In Sedgefield, the existing character of this quaint town will be enhanced by a new mosaic sculpture by local NPO Masithandane. The colourful full-size VW Beetle will be parked on the edge of the Sedgefield estuary mouth, the latest addition to the Sedgefield Mosaic Route.  
  
• In Knysna, the central business district will be brightened and cheered when the Knysna in Bloom flower pots in the Main Road and surrounds become creative canvases.  

The combined initiative was put together by Visit Knysna (Destination Marketing), Knysna Municipality (Destination Management and Economic Development) and The Knysna Art Society with the aim of putting Knysna back on the map as an art and culture destination. 

The project doesn’t stop here, aiming to expand to Leisure Island, Millionaire’s View Point in White Location and Diepwalle; local artists can look forward to an opportunity to display their pieces to travellers. Social media can look forward to beautiful photographs of nature and art that demonstrate the freedom travellers have been missing over the last year.