A massive 5 m x 2 m tapestry stitched by 41 women and two men in Hamburg, a remote village on the Eastern Cape coast, has gone to auction at a Strauss & Co live virtual auction in Cape Town.

First unveiled in 2023, the Umlibo tapestry is the handiwork of the world-renowned Keiskamma Art Project.

The masterpiece carried a pre-sale estimate of R250 000 to R300 000, with proceeds going to fund critical conservation efforts and support the local community as climate pressures intensify.

The tapestry takes its name from the isiXhosa word for a pumpkin vine – a plant that spreads wherever conditions allow. The artists hope the artwork’s message will spread just as resiliently across the globe.

Umlibo was commissioned by WWF South Africa with funding from the government of Flanders as part of a marine project focusing on sustainable livelihoods.

In 2023, the tapestry travelled to the COP28 international climate meeting in Dubai, where it caught the eye of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He remarked that the colourful, hand-stitched work “contained everything any head of State needs to say about the climate issue”.

"It is the most amazing piece of work and to know that it was done in the deep rural areas of our country makes me very proud,” Ramaphosa said at the time.

Up close, the tapestry reveals intricate details of daily rural life and modern ecological shifts of a woman riding a donkey cart, red cattle grazing beside modern wind turbines and a fisherman casting his net into an embroidered estuary.

The artists layered applique, beadwork, and thick coloured cotton onto a hessian backing.

Some sections are worked in relief, allowing flowers and waves to stand off the surface physically.

These fragments resolve into a breathtaking macro-image: a giant butterfly. One wing depicts the harsh, stark realities of a warming world, while the other visualises the possibility of a positive, sustainable future.

The Keiskamma Art Project has exhibited internationally for over two decades. Its large-scale tapestries – including The Keiskamma Altarpiece, The Keiskamma Guernica, The Creation Altarpiece, and The Keiskamma Tapestry – have been shown in museums across South Africa, Europe, and North America.

Historically, many of these works powerfully responded to the devastating toll of the HIV/Aids epidemic on their community.

Now, their focus expands to the climate emergency.

"The 43 artists stitched their own home and livelihoods into Umlibo, and showed a changing climate already reshaping them," said WWF South Africa senior marine specialist Craig Smith.

"What happens in a tiny village such as Hamburg is a warning for all of us. Nature is our home. Selling the work carries that message forward, and we would love it to go somewhere people can keep engaging with it for years to come.