Saadjies – Blood In Our Roots

-Part of the Cool Capital Saadjie exhibition in South Africa

Just as the Cosmos seed was originally taken from Argentina to South Africa, the Dutch language was taken from the Netherlands to South Africa. Where both the Cosmos flower and Afrikaans are now truly South African, their roots started elsewhere. These blood-dyed cosmos seeds represent the journey and sameness we all share as people. These bloody seeds also connect to the world wide problem of racism and discrimination, no matter how big or small it appear to be. It is a universal issue we all deal with in our lives. Embroidered on the seeds in blood-dyed yarn is a section of a poem Bosch wrote in her mother tongue Afrikaans, about racism. The poem is written in such a way that it not specific to anyone or any event in particular but so that it can apply to anyone and everyone at the same time.