Context (CMS Context)
Artist Biography given by the Kuru Development Trust. 'Sobe Sobe
Sobe wanted to be an artist ever since he heard about the art project at Kuru. In 1993 he left his job at a cattle post close to the central Kalahari game reserve to work at Kuru so that he could be closer to the art project. His talent was soon recognised when he helped to make posters for a children's workshop at the Kuru Cultural Centre. Sobe grew up on several farms in the Ghanzi district, since his family often moved from one place to another. As a child he lived mostly with his grandparents who taught him many things about the veld. Apparently this was not enough, because when he was older, the owner of the farm where they were living, took him to school in D'Kar. The situation at school did not suit a child who was used to the freedom in the wild. Having a very frail figure he was teased and beaten by the bigger boys in the hostel where he had to stay. He ran away, finding his way over eighty kilometres through the bush back to the farm.

Sobe did not produce large quantities of work but whenever his hand touched something it turned out to be a good work of art. He liked to portray the animals. The Gemsbok was one of his favourites. He also liked to portray the leopard for which he had great respect. The many stories about the big horned snake that kept watch over a waterhole had always intrigued him. The horned snake or the snake with ears can be found in almost all his artwork. He liked to use very bright contrasting colours. He excelled in his lino prints.

Together with the Kuru Cultural Centre he visited the rock art sites in the Brandberg and Twyfelfontein in Namibia. These parts of his history and culture had made a great impression on him. He said that he sometimes tried to portray the animals to look like the ones the rock artists did. It amazed him much that one of his prints received the Jury Honourable Mention at the Graphica Creativa 96 exhibition in Finland. Because of this he was invited to participate in the World Award Winners Gallery 1997 in Krakow, Poland.

In August 2000 this young promising artist died.' Taken from http://www.africaserver.nl/kuru/english/artists/ssobe.htm
Event Date 12/2/2014
Author: Rachel Hand

Context (CMS Context)
Presented by The Art Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. An acquisition project to build a collection of modern and contemporary work on paper from Australia, Canada and South Africa was undertaken over 2011-13 with the support of a grant under The Art Fund's RENEW programme. The collection was developed with the expert advice and generous assistance of Annie Coombes and Norman Vorano in relation to South African and Inuit artists respectively. Khadija Carroll, Anita Herle and Diana Wood Conroy also contributed to the selection process. Obtained from the Kuru Development Trust, Ghanzi, Botswana, November 2013
Event Date 12/2/2014
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Intaglio and relief by Sobe Sobe, titled 'Gemsbok', edition 6/6.
Event Date 12/2/2014
Author: maa

Context (CMS Context)
Exhibited: 'Crafting Colour: Beads, Pattern and Painting from the Kalahari', Cambridge MAA South Lecture Room, 24 June 2014 - 28 September 2014. Presented by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. The display label text read: 'Sobe Sobe, who joined the Kuru Art Project in 1993, took particular inspiration from his visits to see rock art in Namibia. Unlike most rock art, his depiction of a Gemsbok includes a number of plants.'
Event Date 15/9/2014
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (CMS Context)
The 2014 exhibition label gives 1998 as the Date Made, this has been added to the field.
Event Date 15/7/2015
Author: Remke van der Velden