Moving Mountains takes the impulse of transforming spaces and spaces of transformation, of moving the immovable, as its guiding thematic and creative concern. It draws inspiration from the elemental force of mountains, directly or symbolically, gesturing to the mountains that surround the Tradouw Valley (Tradouw which in San means the ‘footpaths of the women’) and form a significant part of the living imaginaries, heritage and herstory of the valley in which Barrydale exists. Through puppetry, movement and music, something as immense as a mountain, might be set in motion. It is said that to move a mountain is to attempt the impossible but through this project, the artists attempt to question society and the many mountains it manifests. Through the creative art of giant puppetry we ask, what mountains do we face today and where do we wish to move them?

The piece draws inspiration from the reimagined life and story of Koos Sas, a sheep rustler from the early 1900’s in the Klein Karoo, who was accused of murder and then, without trial, was hunted down through South Africa, eventually being shot in Springbok in the Northern Cape in 1922.  Sas, whose bodily remains were put on display in the Montagu Museum, is regarded locally as a hero and a symbol of resistance to the devastations of colonial subjection.  Immersing in the imagined journeys of Sas through the landscapes of the mountains, directly or symbolically, the project gestures to the mountains that surround the Tradouw Valley, using puppetry and metaphor, to explore the relationship between Sas, the landscapes and  creatures he encounters along the journey and within the psychic and physical landscapes of the Tradouw, raising questions about freedom and knowledge, ownership and justice, access and exclusion.