Our team including Casper Lundie of BIRU and Andrew Brose of MASS Design Group was selected as one of three winners in the Social Impact Art Prize, an initiative of the Rupert Museum. Directed by Hanneli Rupert and Roelof van Wyk , the competition saw 6 projects being developed as finalists over the the months between late 2019 and early 2020. The other finalists were : 'A Seat At The Table' (Kasthuri Naidoo and Ayesha Mukadam) 'Mirage' by (Studio August) 'Revealing The City' (Kim Lieberman, Paragon Group) 'Tears Become Rain' (awarded project - David Brits and Raiven Hansmann) 'Wolk' (awarded project-Pierre Swanepoel and Gustav Praekelt)

Our project proposed a work of landscape architecture in the form of a garden space and pavilion in Graaff-Reinet. The proposed project looks at the relationship between people and the natural and urban landscape of the town.

There is an existing cultural practice of the use of medicinal plants in certain communities of the formal town and related informal settlements. The base of knowledge associated with the practice is dwindling, affecting the prevalence of the use of the plants. Our ongoing project seeks to address this in the creation of a garden sited in the town. Named 'The Good Garden'.

A workshop is proposed to engage members of the community in gathering forgotten knowledge, consolidating existing knowledge, and researching to uncover future knowledge regarding the plants. With the workshop as the catalyst, the establishment of the garden can take place. This would represent a step toward reinstating the culture of the use of medicinal plants in the area.

The proposed garden is located at Market Square, a space of historical significance in terms of trade and transfer of knowledge. The square has been earmarked for upgrade by the government, and we hope that the garden will act as catalyst for this development. There is potential for the garden to have satellite equivalents in neighboring Karoo towns, acknowledging the culture practice as a regional phenomenon.