In the 1960's or 70's, aside perhaps from government inspectors and travelling salesmen, only intrepid travellers would happen upon the remote village of Nieu-Bethesda in the Great Karoo - South Africa's semi-desert heartland. And only the more curious of those were likely to be drawn to a modest cottage overlooking the dry riverbed. They might have noticed looming sun-faces painted over the windows, or a constellation of tin stars reaching up above the tall wire fence. Coming closer and peering into the little yard, they'd discover a crowded wonderland of owls and acrobats and shepherds, of miniature churches and shrines, all sculpted in cement and discarded bottle glass.  They may then have deciphered wire writing across the fence: 'this is my world', tellingly written for an inside observer, and also, perhaps, glimpsed a frail, fleeting shadow slip quickly out of view.

Today, the Owl House is usually the reason for visiting Nieu-Bethesda. And the late, reclusive Helen Martins is now recognised as an iconic visionary artist.

The video 'this is my world' is a dramatised documentary examining the genesis of the Owl House from 'Miss Helen's' interior perspective.  This is a story of an obsessive creative urge.  Of artistic and spiritual expression, not for gain or recognition, but as a heartfelt foil to the pressures of an unsympathetic society and as a means to transcend the boundaries of personal condition.