Bethesda Arts Centre & Tower Accommodation

The Bethesda Foundation was established by Jeni Couzyn in 1999, with the following objectives:
- Income generation and relief of poverty through the arts
- Dissemination of /Xam Bushman culture through making and exhibiting contemporary /Xam wall hangings and artwork nationally and internationally
- Training in the arts, including drawing, printmaking stained glass and performance arts.
- Outrea

ch work in disadvantaged communities province-wide. The Centre is managed entirely by its 19 full-time participants, local People of Bushman origin, with support from Centre founder, Jeni Couzyn and regular international volunteers. Major artistic achievements of your organisation in Arts and Culture over the past
1. Creation of artwork: 19 artists of San Bushman descent work daily at the Bethesda Arts Centre, creating a wide range of contemporary artwork in textiles, printmaking and stained glass. In 2015 we completed a unique collection of San Bushman art-quilts, which are on permanent display in our gallery.
2. Financial independence: Through the sale of our artwork from our own gallery in Nieu Bethesda, art commissions, and our restaurant and accommodation, we are building long-term financial independence and are supporting our families and community.
3. Exhibitions: In Nov 2014 our /Xam Bushman quilts were exhibited at the Shared Sky exhibition in Perth (Australia), at the Iziko National Gallery in Cape Town (Feb 2015) and at the Discovery Centre at Jodrell Bank in the UK (July 2015). The exhibition at the National Gallery was extended by popular demand. Our quilts, prints and drawings were also exhibited in several exhibitions in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Graaff Reinet, including at the Pretoria Arts Museum (March 2015) and the Jan Rupert Arts Centre (April 2015). Media coverage of our work included Australian and South African national newspapers and television interviews.
4. Quilt sales: The British Museum, UK, is currently in the process of buying a /Xam myth quilt for their permanent Africa collection. Earlier this year, the international telescope project - Square Kilometre Array - purchased a collection of 7 myth quilts, which will be toured worldwide alongside artwork from Australian indigenous artists.
5. Outreach work: Having been trained by international volunteer teachers in a series of dance and clowning workshops (2010 – 2015), in Oct 2015 we began to pass on our skills in an ongoing programme of clowning and performance workshops to children in local and regional schools. We are also working with local teachers, the police and other groups in our community, using workshops and the arts to address a variety of social and environmental issues (ranging from alcoholism and abuse to fracking).
6. Festivals: Our very popular New Year’s Eve Festival of Lights continues to be a highlight in the local community and draws hundreds of tourists to the village to participate and celebrate with us every year.