CAPE TIMES: Adele Baleta. The tourism lifeblood to the Karoo village of Nieu Bathesda in the Eastern Cape has taken a knock after the plug was pulled on the Athol Fugard Festival and tourists cancelled trips to the famous Owl House saying brightly coloured restorations has turned it into a garish amusement park.

The main sponsor of the three-day festival, due to take place next month, has withdrawn funding, putting an end to the annual event which had attracted a capacity crowd of 3000 tourists a year since it was started in 2008.
Next months festival was due to showcase eight of Fugard’s plays in honour of his 80th birthday and the playwright himself, was to attend.
Every year at least 15 000 people marvel at artist Helen Martin’s Owl House, a national monument, put on the map after Fugard published his play The Road to Mecca in 1985. The play centres on the reclusive Martins, whose art-world house has ironically, since her death, turned into a money spinner for the town that shunned her for supposedly being crazy.
Now, there are bitter complaints about painting restorations to Martin’s visionary Camel Yard, crowed with concrete owls, camels and mermaid sculptures, with some saying it has been transformed into a “Disneyland gone wrong” with figures painted i:in bright awful colours”.
Owl House Foundation chairwoman Huldah van Wyk, who repainted the sculptures has denied that tourism has been negatively affected. The foundation had received positive feedback, she said. “Helen used enamel paint and I used a polvin. We will in future try glass to get some of the glitter back.”
She said the house was difficult to maintain and the foundation worked without sponsorship or government support.But Paarl artist Stephane Siegruhn said Martins would have “used natural pigment like ochre and ground glass to create an otherworldly quality to her work. There were no acrylics or polvins in her day. They have robbed the Camel Yard of its ethereal quality. There was never a glare and her work was subtle, mystical, soft and delicate, not crude and unfeeling.\”.
Martins’ relative]\, Anita Victor, said \: Maybe I am stupid or do not have enough knowledge, but the appearance is not e\what Helen had left behind.”
Jackie Ravenscroft, who lives in the Crags, said in a letter to the foundation that she haad been visiting for the past 12 years and it “was extremely disappointing that it “is losing its soul.”
Idil Sheard, a former foundation board member, says she had received several complaints. ‘Restoration must be done as the original colour had faded. But you don’t restore masterpieces in that way. You would not do that to a Van Gogh or a Da Vinci. There is enough research to find out what paints Martins has used.” She said some regular visitors were no longer keen to return.
Owl House administrator Arno du Toit said the complaints were part of a campaign instigated by one person. “In the annex to the museum you can view the products and tools used by Helen. The renovations are not out of line with what she did.”
Referring to Sheard he said : “One person is sour because she was asked to leave the board six years ago for being counter productive.”
A resident, who did not want to be identified, said it was a fight for supremacy.
“Everyone wants to be the top dog without considering the village or anyone else. Miss Helen would be turning in her grave if she was here.”
The festival organiser Reinet le Roux, said “preposterous small town politics and jealousy” was the real reason behind the festival’s cancellation, and negative letters had been sent to the sponsor.
However, Community Tourism Organisation chairwoman Heidi Boekkooi said the sponsor pulled out for economic reasons.