Pelargoniums and butterflies, Ericas and sunbirds, Arum lilies and Frogs, a mouse and a protea, the bietou and the bee… these are some of the relationships celebrated by learners from local primary schools on colourfully painted t-shirts.
The learners were reminded of the flowers and pollinators they saw at Princess Vlei, and asked to select designs, which they then painted on the t-shirts. These t-shirts will be worn at the Fynbos Fantasia celebration on October 25. Some of the teachers at Levana, including the principal Ms Charity, brought their own tshirts along to paint.  
Below are some of the beautiful Tshirts created by these fynbos inspired young artists. 

What dance would you do if you were a pollinator? 
    This was the challenge for the 90 learners from Harmony, Levana, Floreat and Rosmead Primary.who came to the vlei in August for a creative and immersive experience of the wonders of our fynbos floral kingdom.
    The experience was the introduction to our ‘Fynbos Fantasia’ project. The project aims to open the minds of our young people to the incredible variety and beauty of Cape Town’s fynbos, and the interaction of plants and pollinating insects, birds and other animals. It incorporates art, dance, observation and all the senses: taste, touch, sight, scent and hearing to  enable to learners to fully experience our local plants. 
  The learners were given a short explanation of the interaction between flowers and pollinators, and told about the dances performed by bees to inform other bees of where to find pollen. They took part in a meditation where they envisaged being a plant themselves. They were asked to closely observe a flower and the pollinators which visited it. They were told to do a ‘blind’ drawing, where they only looked at the plant and not at their page, to enable them to really observe the plant, before doing a second drawing in which they could look at the page. They also drew any pollinators they saw.

After drawing the plants, learners worked in groups to create a dance honouring the flowers and pollinators. They were guided by dance instructors Thimna and Tauriq, with a rhythm provided by Marvin Saffoor on the drums. These dances will be developed for performance at our Fynbos Fantasia Celebration on October 25.
     The  beautiful drawings are a testament to their paying attention and closely observing the flowers. This close attention enabled them also to note the less visible fauna, such as monkey beetles and bees burrowed in the vygie flowers. An interesting diversion was a carp caught by a local fisherman .
    For young people flooded with tik-tok videos and social media, an afternoon paying attention to and getting excited about flowers is a good antidote to the over stimulation and stress that they experience on a daily basis. 

Other activities in the Fynbos Fantasia project are: 

• A four session workshop for High School learners led by Shihaam Domingo reconnecting the learners with their ancestral roots by exploring ancestral relationships with healing and culturally significant plants. 
  
• Dance and drumming workshops for Primary school learners
• Painting T-shirts for Primary school learners
• A two day workshop with high school learners to create head dresses inspired by fynbos plants indigenous to Princess Vlei
• A celebration on 25 October which will included dances and poems performed by the learners, a performance of Hoerikwaggo, a play by the Jungle Theatre Company, and a parade from Retreat Civic to Princess Vlei in honour of the fynbos plant and animal life. 

These experiences were made possible by funding from the City of Cape Town and the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust managed by Nedbank Private wealth.