Coexʼae (sometimes Coinxʼae or Xwexae) Qgam, who worked under the name Dada (sometimes rendered as Dada Coexʼae Qgam) (1934–2008) was a

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

artist, storyteller, and translator. A

Bushman The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged from other humans 100,000 to 200 ...

, she was a member of the

Ncoakhoe Naro , also Nharo, is a Khoe language spoken in Ghanzi District of Botswana and in eastern Namibia. It is one of the most-spoken of the Tshu–Khwe languages. Naro is a trade language among speakers of different Khoe languages in Ghanzi Distric ...

people, speakers of the

Naro language Naro , also Nharo, is a Khoe language spoken in Ghanzi District of Botswana and in eastern Namibia. It is one of the most-spoken of the Tshu–Khwe languages. Naro is a trade language among speakers of different Khoe languages in Ghanzi Dist ...

. Qgam was born in 1934 in

Ghanzi Ghanzi is a town in the middle of the Kalahari Desert the western part of the Republic of Botswana in southern Africa. The region is the country's pride in contributing a large portion towards the beef industry. In fact, Ghanzi farmers provide a ...

, and had only three months' education; nevertheless, she came to be fluent in five African languages. She worked for a time as a nanny and domestic. It was during her employment in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

that she was first exposed to

textile art Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials use ...

, when an employer taught her to do

needlework Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile arts, textile handicrafts that involve the use of a Sewing needle, needle. Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a crochet hook, hook), or tatting, ( ...

and

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

. In 1990 she joined the Kuru Art Project as a translator; exposure to different art forms encouraged her to try her hand at creating artwork herself, although she had no formal training. In 1999 she was one of eight artists, four from the Kalahari and four from New Mexico, to participate in a cultural exchange with the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

in which they would create a suite of

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

s upon the subject of

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...

s in folklore. In January 2000 her work was shown in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

alongside that of Ann Gollifer and Neo Matome. During her career Qgam showed work through Southern Africa as well as in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Her work is represented in the collection of the Lechwe Trust in Zambia and the

Portland Museum of Art The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine. History The PMA use ...

. Three of her lithographs are owned by the city of

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. Late in life Qgam took in fellow San artist

Cgʼose Ntcoxʼo Cgʼose Ntcoxʼo (sometimes Xhose Noxo), known as Cgoise (c. 1950 – October 6, 2013) was an artist from Botswana. Ntcoxʼo was a member of the Ncoakhoe people, speakers of the Naro language, and was born in the Ghanzi District of Botswana. She ...

after the latter was widowed. Qgam collaborated with a group of other San artists from the Kuru Art Project on the publication of ''Qauqaua'', an

artists' book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...

published in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

in 1996; the text of the book is based on her retelling of a San folktale. She was herself the subject of a book as well, ''A Biography and Portrait, Conversations and Images: Coexʼae Qgam, Dada "I Am One of a Kind. I Don't Know why I was Created": Story Teller, Dancer, Beadworker, Painter, Printmaker, Daughter, Sister, Mother, Lover, Wife'' by Ann Gollifer and Jenny Egner, published in 2011 and consisting of interviews and a catalogue of her work. Qgam died in

on October 24, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qgam, Coex'ae 1934 births 2008 deaths Botswana painters Botswana printmakers Botswana women painters Storytellers Women storytellers Botswana translators 20th-century painters 20th-century printmakers 20th-century translators 20th-century women artists 21st-century painters 21st-century printmakers 21st-century translators 21st-century women artists People from Ghanzi District San people Botswana emigrants Indigenous women of Africa