Storytelling and Engravings, Past and Present: Biesje Poort, Northern Cape.

The Biesje Poort rock art project focused on the recording of previously undocumented rock engravings as well as the research teams’ reactions to and interpretations of the rock art, associated artefacts and site. The multidisciplinary and multicultural Biesje Poort research team included local representatives from the Kalahari. The greater scope of this paper is the gaining and sharing of knowledge in relation to the Biesje Poort rock art site. The three authors, all part of the Biesje Poort research team, focus on different aspects of the project which are presented here in a dialogical manner. Miliswa Magongo is a Communication for Development Masters student at the Centre for Communication and Media in Society (CCMS) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Miliswa explores the role of participatory communication in recording tangible and intangible heritage, as well as the promoting of skills transference and community empowerment. Mary Lange is chairperson of the non profit organisation ARROWSA (Art: A Resource for Reconciliation Over the World). She is also a research affiliate at CCMS, UKZN who promotes collaborative projects and publications with present-day Kalahari artists and storytellers. Mary focuses on a multiple intelligence approach to research in relation to recording rock art and oral narratives north of the Orange River. Shanade Barnabas is a PhD candidate at CCMS, UKZN. Her research explores the dynamics of cultural heritage tourism at a heritage site in the Northern Cape. Shanade discusses the tourism potential of the Biesje Poort site and the most appropriate methods of representing the rock engravings to the broader public.