Storytelling is an integral part of our African culture, particularly in South Africa. In the olden days, every house had a fire pit, where families would gather, and grandparents would share African folktales passed down through generations.
The earliest form of storytelling is rock art. Rock art is the art found on the walls of caves and on moveable rocks, it depicts simple images of the daily lives of the indigenous people. Rock art is important because it represents one of the earliest forms of creativity in humans. It is also the first evidence of humans being able to document storytelling. It was amidst this ancient lifestyle of survival and spirituality that the indigenous people found their artistic voice, transforming the rock faces into canvases for their stories and culture.
Our grandmothers are storytellers, inheriting their abilities from their grandmothers, teaching us mannerisms, respect, and life lessons through entertaining and informative stories.
One story from the beer film tells of a chicken and a falcon, teaching the importance of responsibility and returning borrowed items.
The story goes like this: Once upon a time there was a chicken and a falcon. A chicken went to the falcon to borrow a needle to sew clothes for her chicks. The falcon gave the chicken the needle. The chicken lost the needle. The falcon thought to the chicken that it is going to eat the chickens' chicks until the chicken gives the needle back. That is the reason the falcon hunts and eats the chickens' chicks. When the chicken is looking for food, it always has its eyes fixed to the ground as if it is looking for a needle.
As the world develops, our African storytelling traditions fade, but beer can give us a voice. By brewing beers that tell our stories, we can revive our cultural heritage.
In South Africa, we've used various mediums for storytelling, like wrappers and cartons. If you buy bubble gum the inside wrapper has some fun facts, you can chew your bubble gum while reading those facts. In the olden days when you would buy a carton of milk there would be a picture of a missing dog or cat that someone is seeking help to trace and that person would be using a carton of milk as his or her medium.
Why not use beer cans?
Graffiti artists are also storytellers, often facing challenges when their messages become political.
The "Mamogaswa" beer film showcases African storytelling abilities, highlighting our desire to create and share stories.
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