Kids at it with LucasBlomme en skoonlappies deur ClarissaJill Joubert our amazing children’s puppetry creator and Derek, from Net vir PretJJ and the bokkie!Kids puppet making and workshop leadersOur international volunteers representing South Korea, Germany and Australia!!!!!Not only did Adrian spend months creating a herd of life size elephants, he also then had to get stuck in to prop making!!!!!!Die DraadDirecting and scripting team: Aja and MaggiPuppet designer Clarissa from Net vir Pret with Daphne making puppets for the small kids ages 4-6yrsHerman Witbooi’s Bokkie designSimon working on ..read more

It has been a powerful two and a half weeks here in the Tradouw, the Valley of the Women, learning not only what it means to inhabit the sound, vocalisations, movements and characteristics of elephants, but about the absolute necessity of communal sensitivity and awareness when we work with puppetry.  With the amazing puppetry trainer Craig Leo at my side and composer Simon Kohler guiding us, and our team of  14 super-puppeteers, we managed to replicate and develop the amazing rumbles, trumpets and whooshes of these resonant giants.  Then we merged mechanics and meaning, adaptin ..read more

The road to #Olifantland2016 is in full swing. Day 2 of rehearsals began with our Creative Director Aja Marneweck leading the warm-ups and teaching our puppeteers the importance of breathing and opening their vocal channels. Music Director/Sound Engineer, Simon Kohler gave lessons on using the mouth and the voice as an instrument, thus manipulating the Vuvuzela to create elephant sounds that would help make the giant puppets come alive. Craig Leo, Puppetry Director, completed the day off with some introductory intense puppetry training where our puppeteers had the opportunity t ..read more

We are so excited about the original score for the new show Olifantland.  Every year we have the consummate local youth band, the Jazz Monkeys working with Muso Gary Crawford to create the electric sound for the show, alongside Peter Takelo’s rollicking Riel Dans songs.  This year we have composer Simon Kohler working with us to create a coherent sound scape that actually works with the subsonic frequencies of the elephants as a vital aural and resonant landscape within the production.  Here are images from our first big rehearsal at the Net Vir Pret offices in Barrydale – Aja ..read more

Jill Joubert has been teaching the young leaders and children of Barrydale since 2010, how to make the most gorgeous and creative puppets from amazing materials, many of which are recycled.  This year, she has two remarkable designers working alongside her, Clarissa and Herman from Net Vir Pret in Barrydale.  Below are some of the prototypes for Olifantland, created at Jill’s studio in Observatory Cape Town ..read more

Last week, the puppet building team at the Handspring factory, 30 visitors from the National Gallery and artists from Net Vir Pret Barrydale, watched in joy and awe as Adrian Kohler’s latest designs for the elephants came to life for the first time!  The puppet making team, under Adrian’s expert creative and technical eye, have been working for months on these, the latest puppets from the Handspring Puppet Company, created for the Handspring Puppet Trust’s project in Barrydale.  What a sight to see!   ..read more

Ek het verwag om militaristiese, tawwe jong vroue te ontmoet want dis die beeld wat ek gekry het toe ek vooraf inligting gesoek het om myself voor te berei vir ons besoek aan die Black Mamba’s. Ja hulle was fikse tawwe jong vroue maar ek was aangenaam verras, veral toe ons eers begin gesels oor ons kinders ‘n onderwerp wat alle ma’s verbind maak nie saak wie of wat jy is nie – oud, jonk, verskil van agtergrond of taal, ons almal was moeders, sisters, tannies, niggies, vroue. Na ons patrollie van 20 kilometer wat ek en Aja end uit gestap het al het ons die opsie gehad om saam met een van die vo ..read more

A conversation about family, belonging, the importance of land and remembering and honouring our elders, the trauma of forced removals. This interview with Dr Michelle Henley, director of Elephantsalive.org, was shot on location in Limpopo in October by Stanley John Films. It was part of field research, funded by the Handspring Puppet Trust and UWC Humanities Research Flagship, to facilitate the visit of 3 women from Barrydale and the Net Vir Pret children’s organisation, to spend time with conservation and anti poaching experts. This was in preparation for the new Handspring Puppet Trust comm ..read more

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Our first view of the Black Mambas was from outside the rickety minibus we had on loan from the Black Mamba’s headquarters and office, on the Olifants West Game reserve in Balule, Limpopo Province.  A few km’s from Hoedspruit and the famous Kruger National Park.  The Black Mambas were stablished in 2013 in an ‘experimental’ attempt by the rangers and Rhino conservationists at Balule, to find alternative ways to combat poaching.  The Mamba’s are central characters in our new show Olifantland.   They have provided inspiration for the female characters in our st ..read more