A visual poem describing the journey of an individual from the mountains perspective.

//Hui !Gaeb (the Place where the Clouds Gather) - 2017 

The following is a visual poem describing the journey of an individual from the mountains perspective. Inspired by my first summit of Hoerikwaggo (Table Mountain), I was immediately aware of the stark contrast of the ancient landscape in comparison to the city which sat below it. 

The film is narrated entirely in Khoekhoegowab an indigenous language once spoken in this region. It was translated into Afrikaans and then khoekhoeguab via a dictionary used by my collaborator Sam Jansen who also provides the voice of narration. This decision was influenced by my early studies of indigenous languages and culture in the Cape during the first years I moved there from Durban. As a person of Indian descent I resonated with the colonial erasure of indigenous knowledge systems and languages in the Cape. The fact that the popular terms for these locations omitted recognition of indigenous names (although this trend has been shifting) was a concerning element for me.

Language and names are more than a set of grammatical rules but are keys to unlocking a paradigm of knowledge which in turn augments human experience. Table Mountain and //Hui !Gaeb, Cape Town and //Ami Ssa occupy very different spaces and experiences. You hike Table Mountain, but Hoerikwaggo occupies an entirely different cultural/social significance. 

The decision to represent the narration of the mountain in an indigenous language I considered more appropriate than to do so in English, or Afrikaans or any other language. It was done in respectful collaboration with another scholar of this language who identified directly with its ancestry. The visual images are themselves an expression of language which seeks to further abstract the limitations of western language models in describing indigenous spaces. 

This film does not claim to reflect khoekhoe identity but the inclusion of the language is a recognition of the subaltern spirit of Cape Town. 

Direction / cinematography: Kamil Adam Hassim

Music: Nkosenathi Koela

Mix and Master: Kerim Becker

Khoekhoeguab translation and narration: Sam Jansen

Performance: Christian Mpazayabo