My Heritage project was pitched to The Heritage Management Organisation amongst 2500 projects.

I have always lived in the indigenous values of reciprocity as my ancestors have taught me and so I had to think about how I could preserve and archive the oral stories of Kalk Bay and bring economic value into the community no matter how big or small.

This project aims to preserve our cultural identity, much like how jars preserve food. We source locally harvested products from entrepreneurs in the Kalk Bay Fishing Community, with each jar featuring a scannable QR code that shares the history of the area.

Jars of preserves can be purchased directly from Traci.

“Preserve” is a play on words and the jars contain cultural food preserves like “gups” (alikreuk), vegetable atchar and see vy konfyt.

This project is a collaboration between The Fisher Child (Traci Kwaai), Lodeffilms ( Francois Knoetze & Amy Louise Wilson) and Urchin Studios (Kyle Marais)

Fisherchild is an immersive experience which builds on the ancestral and archival work of sixth-generation fisher child Traci Kwaai.

“Sponsored by Orms Direct, “The Sea is In our Blood” powerfully and painfully remembers the erased, silenced and displaced memories of intersectional Indigenous ocean communities of False Bay. Whose histories are knotted and woven into stretched memories that span pre-colonial Indigenous !Xam, Khoi Khoi memory, through to  when sea-faring and ocean fluent Indigenous peoples from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Madagascar and East Africa were enslaved by Dutch and British in the early cape colony.”

Read the full Ground up article here.

THE SEA IS IN OUR BLOOD: RE-MEMBERING OUR TAPESTRY OF STORIES
Curated by Traci Kwaai

Project Fisher Child is a multidisciplinary storytelling experience that weaves together VR, AR, and QR technologies. Each element offers a unique narrative that intersects and overlaps with the others, creating a rich, immersive journey. Whether you’re engaging on-site or from wherever you are, the stories remain accessible and impactful.

Produced in collaboration with Lo Def Film Factory and narrated by the fisher children of today, this audio archive is a powerful recollection and remembrance of Kalk Bay’s heritage.

True stories that amplify the indigenous community of Kalk Bay.