When:        Friday, 20 May 2011

 Time:          11:30 - 12:30

 Venue:       The Avogadro

                   Chemistry Building

                    Room 3-22

 Abstract    

 The irreplaceable historical archive of San/Bushman paintings in South Africa provides research material of extraordinary value for researchers in many disciplines. The paint is believed to consist of both organic and inorganic components such as pigments (charcoal, manganese oxide, haematite, etc), carrying agents (saliva, gall, plant sap, etc) and binding agents (fat, egg, blood, plant resin). These ingredients were selected for their colour, adhesion properties and also for symbolic reasons. Thus, determining the paint components not only offer information about the technological level of the artists, but also contribute to an understanding of their intellectual and spiritual development. In this lecture I will illustrate the techniques that I use to reconstruct the “paintbox” used by San artists.

 Contact person             Prof P H van Rooyen

 Contact number            012 420 2519