Bushmen art has gained many new admirers including the South African President. President Mbeki was one of the many impressed guests invited to Art of Africa's Bushmen art exhibition held last year at the President Cup Golf Tournament in George, South Africa.

This prestigious 10 day exhibition was attended by people such as South African President Thabo Mbeki, the United States golf team with their partners, Mrs Bush Snr, international models, Former South African President FW De Klerk, PGA staff, SAP delegates and many other VIPs from around the world.

Most people were unaware that genuine Bushmen paintings have hit the international market to great acclaim … and are amazed to find that the descendants of these aboriginal Africans are now painting aspects of their lives again, just as they did centuries ago on rocks.

To be invited to hold an exhibition of this stature was an inspiring tribute to Bushmen art. The paintings display originality, conscience and beauty, but what makes them significant is that they are signs of attempts to re-empower a culture that has all but vanished.

Art is a way of self-expression and a way of conserving their culture, while equipping them with the life skills necessary to live on another man’s land, where all that comes naturally to them has become prohibited. In the absence of rocks on which to paint, game to hunt and land to roam, art has become an escape for this nomadic tribe – a means of survival.

These art works are snapshots of an ethnic group. Their art is a key to our understanding of their complex symbolic rituals and ceremonies. Although, at first glance, many paintings may be seen simply as records of everyday occurrences, further study reveals deeper meanings. The meanings and story behind each art piece is extremely similar to that of the now famous Australian Aborigine and the American Indian art.

This art form is already starting to receive the recognition it deserves for its depiction of a vanishing reality, its dialogue and its struggle to protect and nurture the value of all that is African... all that is Bushmen.

To view some of the most humble and visually exciting art works around go to www.theartofafrica.co.za/serv/bushmenart.jsp