To outsiders the Karoo may look like a dense landscape with scatterings of people who dare to make a life of it.
But for those who call it home, the semi-desert natural region of South Africa is an oasis with its cloudless skies that sometimes reveals its gems to those who are patient enough to hang around for long.
New kykNET series ’Karoobewoners’ hopes to uncover the magic of the Karoo. After all, it’s a place that inspires poets and artists, and a place that visitor return to again and again.
’Karoobewoners’ shares personal stories about a place that appears to have remain unchanged over the years.
There will be visits to some of the Karoo’s lifelong inhabitants, and its newer residents. Viewers can find out more about the loves, passions and everyday existence of these people in the arid, wide open spaces of the Karoo.
The series kicks off in Montagu where Petrus and Liana are living the dream, raising their family at Kogman & Keisie. Jacques and Hein share how they have lovingly restored a 1854 Cape Dutch house.
In the second programme, viewers are given a look inside the Magpie Collective in Barrydale where artists have a passion for the environment and restoration.
Rosheen Kriegler swapped the buzz of the big city for a more peaceful existence on a farm outside Calitzdorp. We learn more about her experiences in the third programme, before stopping over in Zoar to meet tour guide and storyteller, Alistair Reizenberg, who shares his love of language and history with us.
Other episodes in the series will feature the world-renowned ceramic artist, Hylton Nel, the Prince Albert Reeldancers, Lizzy Snoek and her traditional food, as well as a couple who have transformed an abandoned house into an oasis for artists.
South Africans seem to have an immense capacity for change; for spotting its opportunities and embracing fresh ways of thinking and being,“ said BrightRock’s deputy CEO, Suzanne Stevens.
The financial services company is the producer and partner to the series.
“Karoobewoners showcases the stories of some of its diverse people, who are doing new and interesting things. It explores their journeys, their ability to adapt to change, why they’ve made the Karoo their home, and even how some of them have achieved global recognition from the apparent stillness and desolation of the Karoo. We hope viewers will find their stories as compelling and inspiring as we do,” concluded Stevens.
’Karoobewoners’ airs from January 5, 2021 at 9pm on kykNET (DStv-channel 144)