Dillon Marsh | Karoo XVII (2025)

About 'KAROO'

I have fond memories of family holidays in the Karoo, visiting my aunt and uncle’s farm near Beaufort West. On one drive up, I vividly recall my mom reading aloud from a newspaper, describing a scientific study being conducted in the arid expanse unfolding just outside the car window. The researchers considered the Karoo to be one of the quietest places on earth – so quiet, in fact, that they were able to detect the faint sound of the atmosphere scraping over the earth. This idea stirred a strange sense of wonder and unease within me. This serene landscape suddenly had an eeriness to it, at once familiar and also vast and unknowable. As I grow older, I find myself drawn back to the Karoo again and again. Each visit brings the same deep sense of stillness that captivated me as a child. It is as if the silence holds something sacred. I still find myself listening closely, wondering if in that perfect silence I might finally hear the faint whisper of the atmosphere moving over the earth.