We are the Plant People

‘We thank nature for the oceans that we fill with plastic, the trees we chop down to make tables and fire, the beautiful birds that fly above our heads and bring music to our ears, the air that we fill with smoke, the sun that greets us good morning and the moon that says goodnight. And yet, we don’t appreciate what nature has given us. We act like we have a spare earth in our pockets, but we don’t. Nature doesn’t need us, we need nature so we better start treating it with respect.’ - Crestway High eco-club Members

The Crestway High ecoclub are leading lights in treating nature with respect. In October, they found a new way to honour nature by transforming themselves into culturally and ecologically significant fynbos plants.

This transformation was made by creating elaborate headdresses and painting t-shirts representing March and Arum lilies, Bietou, Proteas, Pelargoniums, Erics, Wilde Dagga and rain daisies. And because plants are intertwined with pollinators, some of the headdresses incorporated pollinators such as a bee, sunbird, and butterfly. 

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Eco-club members gathered for two days at the Peter Clarke Art Centre, where they worked with wire, fabric, cane, paint to create the fynbos flowers on construction site hard hats. They were guided by design teacher Fabian Harzenberg, as well as Bridget Pitt, Emma Oliver and Kamva Nose from the Princess Vlei Forum, and Joel Simons from the Ingcungu Sunbird Project who assists in running the eco-club. 

A few days later the eco-club members met again to paint t-shirts to match their headdresses. Thanks to their efforts, the Princess Vlei Parade was blessed with human/plant hybrids symbolising the deeply interconnected relationships between our ancestors, ourselves and these beautiful and iconic plants. 

Below are the  learners on the day of the parade. 

This process was part of the Fynbos Fantasia project to open the minds of 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 incorporated art, dance, observation and all the senses: taste, touch, sight, scent and hearing to  enable to learners to fully experience our local plants. Learners were also made aware of the profound spiritual and cultural connections of our first nation to these plants. 

• Thanks to the Peter Clarke Art Centre and to the City Grant in Aid fund for making this project possible.