Radiant Hue: Exploring the Significance of the Black-White-Red Triad in Southern African San Rock Art

Abstract

This thesis investigates the potential significance of the black-white-red triad in the San rock paintings of southern Africa. Colour is a pivotal element of design and an obvious technical tool of the artist, yet it also conveys analogical and symbolic meaning. While there is great diversity in the way colour is deployed in art, with culturally specific associations, a trilogy of black, white and red has been identified as recurrent and of particular importance in African art. This colour triad may have been used as a metaphor for spiritual potency among San communities. The problem to be explored is whether there is any symbolic use of colour in the San rock paintings with a view to examining the role of colour within the indigenous knowledge systems of the San, technically, aesthetically and metaphorically. Previous research has not completely addressed the complexity of colour and instead has focused on figural iconography and painting technology. This study will examine colour references in San ethnography and be channelled through a site-specific study located at Kaoxa’s Shelter in the Mapungubwe region, Limpopo Province. Fetcani Glen in the Eastern Cape Drakensberg, the Sevilla trail in the Cederberg mountains of the Western Cape, and Ezeljagdspoort near the town of George in the south-eastern Western Cape, are comparative sites for investigation into the relationship between aesthetics and symbolism. This study aims to contribute to our understanding of the importance of colour selection, application, materiality and valence within this pictorial tradition.