The multiple meanings of place

Abstract

Within the context of Welvanpas, the Retief family farm, I explore the multiplicity of meanings that places hold. Welvanpas is a small wine farm within the Bovlei region of the Western Cape that has been within my family, the Retiefs, for generations. Using deep mapping as a creative method, I explore Welvanpas’s rich historical depth – the resonance of layers of history inscribing it with meanings. Through various printmaking techniques, multiple facets of its history (physical, archival, oral) are mapped in relation to one another. This Fine Art practice-based research project argues that this method of deep mapping uncovers the density of meanings that places hold. Drawing from auto-ethnographic methods, I unpack how deep mapping draws together fragments of history, as well as how the process is further layered with meaning by my personal perception and experiences. Two case studies, the artworks of Ighsaan Adams and William Kentridge, are used to contextualise the creative process. Ultimately the creative output is left open-ended so that viewers may continue the process by mapping out their own meanings.