Inspirational art project at Bonamanzi Lodge benefits locals

WHEN Swedish artist Johan Falkman was invited to South Africa in 2016 by Christin and Dan Olofsson, owners of Thanda Safari Lodge and founders of charity organisation, Star for Life, he immediately fell in love with the country.

Its people, culture, harsh landscapes and climate inspired him.

This led to an art project, supported by Christin and Dan, with the aim of benefitting local communities via Star for Life’s school work.

He called the programme, ‘Art Project Thanda’ and he invited 20 artists from all over the world to stay at Thanda for one week to work and seek inspiration from the landscape, people and wildlife.

The artists were then given a year to create their work, which was auctioned at Stockholm’s Auktionsverk in 2018.

Funds raised through the sales were used to support the work of Star for Life.

A larger project
The success of the project inspired Johan and Dan to continue the charity work with a unique art project titled, What dignifies us.

Johan creates paintings and sculptures inspired by the Old and New Testaments, using local people from the communities surrounding Bonamanzi.

He is creating a Zulu Bible with paintings depicting Jesus, John the Baptist, St John the evangelist, and the kings and queens of the Old Testament.

Mexican-American author and president of Pen International, Jennifer Clement, is writing the texts for the paintings which will be displayed on a world tour scheduled for November.

The exhibition will be showcased in five major museums in Mexico before moving to Cuba in 2022, and then on to Europe.

Johan’s agent, Alvaro Gomez, is looking at the possibilities of exhibitions in America and South Africa.

On completion of the world tour, the paintings will be auctioned off to benefit the Star for Life project.

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