Sand Artist With African Folk Musician

Live Sand-storytelling Artist Tawanda Mhandu, with accompanying African Folk Musicians from Stone Aged Souls and Roots Grown Deep.

Presenting a magnificent and rare form of trans-artistic interplay between light, sand and musical atmosphere. This musical-visual storytelling harnesses the power of live “sandimation”, an imaginative and story-telling form of visual animation that inspires all ages and audiences. Mhandu’s fingers brushstroke through the sand, illuminating a tapestry of visual stories in constant metamorphosis which are projected directly from the light-box to the big screen for all to witness. This living art form is accompanied and inspired by instrumental music performed by a select musician-poet or trio from the well-known ensembles Stone Aged Souls and Roots Grown Deep.

Originally formed in 2010 by visual artist Tawanda Mhandu (Zim) and composer/singer-songwriter Joel Karabo Elliott (USA/RSA), the Stone Aged Souls are based in South Africa and have performed for a variety of audiences including corporate functions and gala dinners, in rural village community halls, and arts festivals like Fete de la Musique, Shindig Awe, and Rocking For Rhinos.

They were selected by Alliance Francaise in 2013 as a featured touring ensemble in southern Africa. In 2017, they launched a sandimation children’s film series for the telling of African history. As a large ensemble, they are currently producing a musical epic project called The Musical Ecology, which can be previewed here.