“Cayenne Crusade” by Melikhaya Noqamza
Title:
- Cayenne Crusade
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Venue(s):
Medium:
- Short film
Artist Statement:
The title Cayenne Crusade derives from the first Portuguese Voyage and subsequent creation of the now known spice route, the first trade route that bypassed European and Asian taxes by going around Africa. Cayenne is a form of pepper and pepper was as valuable as gold in the 13th Century and the Crusades is the collective name given to the religious conquests of Christian soldiers. The animation is a sand & spice stop motion animation, with elements of 3D. The sand and spice represent the high commodity which shaped the landscape of Africa with the Portuguese voyage that first began a trend of African colonization by Europe. Spice was something sailors and soldiers were willing to die for, Africa was used for collecting supplies and resting and if they were met with resistance they would fire cannons onto the coastline to overthrow the native people. On the way to India the Portuguese armada would use these African coastal conquests to create Portuguese stations for the return trip and subsequent voyages. These stations would become small colonies with Portuguese communities and Christian monuments like Vasco da Gama’s Memorial cross in Cape Town and the Vasco da Gama Memorial Clock in Durban. Vasco da Gama is credited for naming Natal and discovering Durban.
