Moya Michael: It’s like a Finger Pointing a Way to the Moon

In the desert regions of Namibia and South Africa, which have been severely affected by climate change and drought, these indigenous San communities participate in the economic system by operating a “Living Museum,” while maintaining a lifestyle outside the labor and housing markets. Western tourists pay a set price to observe and accompany them in their daily work and survival practices: hunting, crafting, making fire, preparing food, and socializing.

Moya Michael, who grew up under South Africa’s apartheid system and is of Khoi and San descent, encounters the community as an outsider while developing a complex, multifaceted exploration of identity and the plurality of the self.

In a non-linear narrative, she explores the cultural and economic “value” of a self-determined life in a world permeated by colonial and capitalist power structures.

(English, no language skills required)