The art of grassland management
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A controlled veld burn shows us what we need to protect
The artist presented her second Art/Science performance at the Sculpture Park in the Cradle of Humankind in June. This entailed an image into the grassland 鈥 a process undertaken by the government-funded Working on Fire job-creation programme. This year鈥檚 image, Locust & Grasshopper, overlaid the 2015 burnt image, Eland & Benko.
Coetzee has an Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts from Wits and worked in the Fine Arts Department in the 1990s. She worked with ecologist Professor Sally Archibald (BSc 1997, PhD 2010) and entomologist James Harrison (BSc 1994) on both #FireGrazer performances, using art as a tool to convey scientific ideas.
The emphasise the important role of these small creatures in savanna ecosystems. The word 鈥渉ittete鈥 comes from an Afrikaans idiom, 鈥淒it was so hittete鈥, meaning 鈥渋t was touch and go鈥, and refers to damage to the planet caused by humans.
In 2015-2016, research on the site tested whether small, managed fires created more productive grassland communities. Wits MSc student Felix Skhosana (BSc 2014, BSc Hons 2015) monitored antelope usage of the burnt veld. Now the research will go beyond grazing to look at the value of this habitat to bird, insect and wildflower species. The goal is to build consensus on appropriate land management, Archibald explains.