Accommodation South Africa Venda Art Route

South Africa is one of the few places in the world where you can meet at least four world-class artists in the a single day and all of them in Limpopo Province in the north of South Africa.

The Venda Art Route is best tackled from the base of the Shiluvari Lakeside Lodge on the shores of Albasini Dam, near the town of Makhado, previously known as Louis Trichardt. From here an organised guide to take you along the craft route where you can sleep in luxury and enjoy excellent meals laden with world-class craftworks.

Noria Mabasa in the little riverside village of Tshino is the first stop. Noria teaches students from all over the world, hosts tourists, do carvings and works with clay. Her home is filled with edible plants, burnished pots, clay figures and her latest carving. Nora never cuts her hair as she sees it as the source of her creative power.

Phineas Masuvhelele stays in a simple home within the village of Mukondeni. He became famous after carving the gigantic Millennium Drum, using part of an enourmous tree uprooted by the floods of 2000. Phineas never chops down trees as he uses only trees that have died naturally, or were chopped down to clear fields. Some of the drums have taken him more than a year to carve.

Jackson Hlongwane is an eccentric character who will take up hours of your time chatting about his awesome work. John Baloyi, one of his students has also become famous as one of his large carvings is displayed outside the Constitutional Court.

At Tsonga Textiles you can buy beautiful tablecloths and other items. You may also visit the fascinating Tshakhuma Market, the heart of Venda’s fresh produce and the Khomanani Paper Art Factory where you can buy stylish paper products made from pulped school exam questionnaires and banana stem pulp.

MAIN MENU:

_____________

South Africa Provinces