A new exhibition in Johannesburg titled !ke e: xarra ke – People who are Different: Come Together celebrates the rock art of the San people, the first inhabitants of southern Africa. Presented by the University of the Witwatersrand’s Rock Art Research Institute and the Origins Centre, the exhibition includes an ultra-high-resolution facsimile of a San rock art panel called the Linton Panel.
The panel contains the image chosen for South Africa’s national coat of arms. The exhibition also features a new artwork by descendants of the San people, as well as a book launch. We asked the head of the institute, Sam Challis, to tell us how the painting rose to such national prominence.