7 Days in Cape Town

When a burning sun dips low enough on the horizon to touch the brown-black earth, that is when South Africa is at its very best – a blazing expanse of broad landscapes of sea and veld, dusty savanna and equally dusty pavements. It is a vast country, extending from pristine coastal plain to rugged mountain passes across wide stretches of semidesert and forest, hills and valleys. Even travelling South Africans are unprepared for the sheer scale and enormous diversity of this grand landscape.

Every day, everywhere, there are new sights to behold and new experiences to share – a graceful old Cape Dutch homestead set against lush vineyards, blue-purple mountains, a bird on a wire. It is the sun, the sand, the textures, the colours and the sounds that conjure up the spirit of South Africa. This volume is a fine tribute to the country, its people and its land- and cityscapes. This is the face of the nation – the essence of South Africa.

Across the face of southern Africa are more than 460 remarkable stone palaces – some small, others rambling, but many are astonishing. All are the legacy of kingdoms past.

Some, such as Great Zimbabwe, Khami in Botswana and Mapungubwe in South Africa, are famous world heritage sites, but the majority are unknown to the general public, unsung and unappreciated.

Palaces of Stone brings to life the history of various early African societies, from AD 900 to approximately 1850. By exploring a selection of known and unknown sites, the authors uncover the emergence of ancient civilisations and reconstruct the meaning of the ruins they left behind. Woven into the narrative are stories of powerful political states; ourishing local economies; long-distance trade; and the destruction wrought by colonialism and modern-day treasure hunters. This book will appeal to anyone interested in Africa’s ancient heritage.

Giraffe stretch out their necks and bat-eared foxes curl their tails to make handles for jugs, vases and tureens. Inquisitive monkeys peer over the edge of a planter, teasing the leopards below them. Magical creatures wear cloaks of flowers, spots and stripes; a turbanned Zulu figure sits astride a hippo…

Colourful, imaginative, vibrant, delicate and dramatic – these are just some of the hallmarks of the artworks that have garnered international accolades for Ardmore Ceramic Art in rural KwaZulu-Natal. It is here, in South Africa’s most successful ceramics studio set in the verdant Midlands, that exquisitely handcrafted and highly detailed figurative works and functional ware are created by more than fifty artists who draw on Zulu traditions and folklore, history, the natural world, and their own lives for inspiration.

In turn, it is the lives of the sculptors and painters of Ardmore that fire the vision of the woman behind it all: Fée Halsted is an artist whose love of teaching and determination to fight poverty and AIDS have set others on the path of creative self-discovery and ultimately worldwide acclaim.

Ardmore – We Are Because of Others tells the extraordinary story of this famous studio – from its humble beginnings in a poverty-stricken corner of South Africa to its fame as a producer of exceptional and irresistible objets d’art prized by collectors, galleries and museums throughout the world. It is also the story of the indomitable Fée Halsted who is the driving force behind the enterprise, and the artists whose inventive spirit and fearless creativity are at the heart of Ardmore.