HUMANS OF SWELLENDAM SERIES

Written By: Chief. Kagisho Molema

Have you ever heard of the Kachina dolls? They are not really dolls or toys but wooden figures. They are made by the Hopi tribe, a native American tribe to pass on spiritual values and life lessons. Haidee Nel, a world class Artist residing in Swellendam, makes her wooden sculptures to pass on life lessons and wisdom to her two beautiful daughters. Haidee discovered the Kachina dolls long after she had been making her own sculptures. How annointed it was to find out what you are doing is actually an ancient discipline practised by a people halfway across the globe from you. That is what happens when you surrender to your calling. We sat down over a cup of delicious coffee, and Haidee unleashed a torrent of wisdom on me, without even trying.

Born to be an Artist, Haidee Nel’s first foray into the arts was at the age of 5 when she did pottery of owls and bowls and sold them to her neighbours which made her mom upset because she wanted to keep them. Like many of us, she thought she should go into something else until later in grade 11 when she did a painting for 400 hours and the following year she did a painting for 4050 hours with a brush with one bristle. This is when we say ‘CRAZY’.

She decided to go to UCT Art School where she completed her honours. While she was doing her master’s degree, she fell pregnant with her first child and had to pause her studies, when she returned she fell pregnant again and that was the biggest turning point in her art, because she discovered unconditional love. Her art became more alive as her children became her muses. She decided to dedicate her art to them. Haidee is in touch with her mortality. She knows she can pass anytime. Now that she has children, she wants to capture knowledge and wisdom in her art for her children to use in the future. When you now understand what the purpose of her art is, you look at it differently. Her sculptures are life lessons drawn from her experience. They are love manifested.

As the conversation flows, the lesson she captures is this: when a victim does not heal, then they easily become the perpetrator. What does that mean? Whenever you find yourself playing the victim and you don’t take responsibility for that, the personality splits into a type of Jekyll and Hyde character.  Simply put – because the victim was hurt, the victim starts to feel justified in hurting others all because they were victimised. But this does not take away from the fact that the victim is now causing damage and taking on the role of being a perpetrator. It becomes a continuous loop. How can we as humanity move out of that loop and heal each other? You must recognise the wolf in you. Do not say there is no evil in you. “We all have good and evil in us all the time” warns Haidee. When you acknowledge the wolf in you, you integrate both the victim and the perpetrator. I could not agree more with Haidee, I have written about this in my book We Are World Creators, chapter 4, on doing shadow work on the self. [By the way the book is for sale at Bokmakiri Books in Swellendam, and at the newly opened Afrikan Prominence Restaurant, or online – get yourself a copy].

Haidee is not interested in making objects that just take up space. What artists create, comes into the 3D and affects everyone. When she creates, she must make sure that she is in alignment with what the Creator wants her to do. She is a conduit taking what is unseen and manifesting it into reality. “It’s like magic” she beams with childlike exuberance. She states that the idea comes on to her with so much power that she has to get it out before she becomes sick.

Art carries meaning that cannot be articulated in words and Haidee is pleasantly surprised that people resonate with the art. One of her series is called ‘Growing Pains’. She did a sculpture of Little Red Riding Hood where she has a tail and wolf feet. This sculpture has actually just recently won itself an exhibition space in Hermanus right by the seaside.

Once upon a time there was a little girl…

At first glance, Double By with her red cape reminds one of the innocent character of Little Red Riding Hood. However, the Wolf’s tail and legs are protruding from the cape, and uncomfortably hints at a split in the identity of this character. The fusing of the two characters is a way of addressing the blurred boundary between the victim-self and perpetrator-self.

Did you know? The dolos design was created by South African draughtsman and inventor Aubrey Kruger. The name was birthed in a precious moment between Aubrey Kruger and his father, Joseph Kruger. After seeing his son and others playing with small models in the office, he asked: “Wat speel julle met die dolos?” Dolos is the Afrikaans word for knucklebones which have long been used by African healers when communicating with their ancestors. In a native African language, they are called Ditaola. They were then invented as concrete bricks in that unique shape for breakwater protection at the sea. Rooikappies is standing on dolosse.

Haidee Nel keeps the ego at bay by praying 24 hours a day. She must check her ego because she is not here to become famous but serve humanity. Ego helps when she does a performance in public, but she must guard all the time if her ego is not getting in the way and affecting things around her negatively. “When the ego takes over, it is like a full stop and the energy and creativity stops coming right there and then”. The ego creates a disconnection between us and the Creator and that is really what depression is. There is only beauty and joy in the Creator. With God, you see things from a higher perspective and all things become beautiful, and you feel so happy, even when you face challenges.

The battle is in you all the time. It simply manifests outside of you because we are like mirrors. If you are vibrating in the lower energy, everything outside will be in the low state too. “You have to fight for yourself” encourages Haidee. “You may be tempted to lie in bed the whole day, but you have to fight for your purpose, your self-esteem, your children and for anything that you value in this life.”  

Do artists have a responsibility to speak on political and social issues? I asked Haidee. Her answer is an emphatic yes! She reminded me that Hitler said the Artist is the most dangerous to the establishment. Hitler banned all the artists from the country, even during apartheid South Africa they banned many artists. Artists hold up the mirror to society because society does not often want to see itself. However, we can’t force people to change. We are here to change ourselves and perhaps the world will follow suit and change. All people must speak out against injustice.

Haidee told me: when you do the work of the Creator, money grows on trees. Whatever you need, it comes to you. It’s the magic of surrendering to your calling. It’s like the Creator personally says to you, “I have got you”. Haidee worked in the movie industry, at the sculpture department, even though she calls herself “unemployable” with a laughter that makes her look up to the skies. In the movies she made lots of money, but she never saw what she did with the money because it is toxic money.  When she walked away, and surrendered, she started to see miracles as people were more than willing to pay the asking price for her artwork.

Her creative process is something interesting, she shows me a musical sculpture named ‘Be Kind’.  A play of words between being kind, and being a child in Afrikaans. She says it took her about 2 years to complete because when she was unkind to herself she could not complete the sculpture. Her process begins with being kind to herself and avoiding negative self-talk. And out of that, there is creative flow. We could all do with self-kindness regardless of the work that we do.

Haidee’s advice to upcoming artists?

Don’t be afraid. You can create anything you want but just be responsible: that’s the catch. Whatever you create is going to impact somebody. Are you bringing down or taking people up? An Artist needs to understand that whatever they create, ripples out and impacts other people – it is your choice whether it will be a negative or positive impact.

Haidee’s medium is primarily wooden sculptures, but she can paint, perform, do pottery and anything she puts her mind to. She says our brains are like AI. We can tap into 1000 years of human experience. She even fixed a piano all by herself recently because she lives by the mantra, the mind is unlimited, and it can do anything that you put it to. The sculptures eyes are always closed and barefoot because the images she captured of her children are when they were asleep and always barefoot.

In Swellendam you can see her work at the Bruise Gallery on Voortrek street.  The sheep sculpture by Grace and Merci is a result of her handiwork. She is in the process of installing a mermaid sculpture at the Bosbou dam to bring positive energy to the water since the drowning of a child at the dam – putting emphasis that people and nature are all connected. One person’s hurt, affects another, so healing oneself becomes beneficial to all humanity. She is planning a major Field Hospital artwork in the Western Cape in October 2025, in Stellenbosch as part of the WoordFees. Die VeldHospitaal, a large living artwork, whispers “show us where it hurts, so that we know where to love you the most”.

The symbolic sculpture is being built by a collective, each championing a part of the body. The sickness of one organ permeates through the entire body, into the rivers and oceans, eventually effecting the whole universe. Haidee hopes that together, people can weave their own stories into one imperfect tapestry and THAT becomes the medicine. The Field Hospital’s visiting hours will be 10am to 10pm from the 14th to the 19^th October in Stellenbosch, all of which one festival ticket covers. Libertas Farm (meaning farm of freedom) will be filled with song, truth, comfort food, dance, art, tears, performances and the immensity of life – light and dark. It shall runneth over. 

Her hope for Swellendam is that people must see each other through the heart and treat each other with compassion. We are all connected and when we realise this fact, then we can fly together. And that is Haidee Nel, surrendering to her Art.

“Stay on the path of righteousness and be triumphant always. I love you all.” Kagisho.

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