Library & art gallery at Motswari Private Game Reserve
Timbavati and Umbabat, South Africa
Get comfy with a book or browse the artwork collection.
Guests are welcome to spend time in our library, unwinding at the fireplace on cooler days, getting lost in a book or discovering more about Motswari Private Safari’s history. If you’re an art lover, you’ll be thrilled by the chance to browse the incredible work created by Motswari owner, Marion Geiger-Orengo and other local artists from the region.
About Marion's work
Motswari's owner, Marion Geiger-Orengo, is a passionate and experienced award-winning artist. Over the years, Marion lectured at Cape Technikon in Cape Town and in the USA at the Chicago Academy for Arts as well as hosting art workshops in Germany.
Today Marion works from her two studios, either in Cape Town or at Motswari. Being out and immersed in nature is one of her favourite ways to connect artistically and Marion spends much of her time sketching her encounters with wildlife – these are then translated back onto canvas in her bush studio in an interpreted, expressive way. Marion calls these “painting conversations with nature”.
Of her style, Marion says: “I paint feverishly – without stopping or stepping back from the canvas until I have covered at least half of the surface with paint. “I try to create a strong emotional moment, sometimes intimate and private, at other times evocative and powerful.
Marion also believes art can transcend all boundaries of the globe and is a powerful, universal language, hence Rhino Disharmony was created, an ongoing campaign using artistic ambassadors to create awareness about the awful, illegal wild-animal trade, like rhino horn. All artistic ambassadors play an important role and Marion collaborates with artists, photographers, musicians, filmmakers and more, and welcomes any future creatives interested in joining this cause here at the lodge.
A collection of her works can be found throughout Motswari's main camp and at Geiger's Camp.
The library
Guests can expect to find a variety of books, from novels to informative books about the region, South African wildlife and the history of Motswai – including detailed maps – can be found.
Guests will also be able to familiarise themselves with various African ornaments and trinkets of the wild: bones, skulls, teeth, skin, eggs, feathers and other pieces of nature, which have been collected around the reserve are stored in a cabinet for educational purposes.
Guests will also come across wildlife sculptures by local artist Renneck Mathebula – a long-time Motswari workshop employee who now works on a neighbouring farm. Motswari is proud to support his creative talents.