KKNK’s Karoo Kaarte is a pioneering public participatory storytelling project established in 2021. The project uses a variety of creative and research methodologies to curate a multidisciplinary arts programme during the annual KKNK festival every April. Karoo Kaarte is community-led, with visual artists, theatre-makers, poets, writers, performers, Indigenous knowledge holders, musicians, researchers, learners, educators, and activists based in Oudtshoorn who collaborate on the project's diverse outcomes.

Karoo Kaarte works to create platforms that foreground local talent, broadening the national spotlight to include artists and performers who have been largely excluded from its reach in the past. This is achieved by focusing on each person's individual development and creating a clearer path for interaction between the creative community of Oudtshoorn and the KKNK.  

The project is an ongoing collaboration facilitated by Vaughn Sadie, visual artist and director of LIGHT PLACE, and Neil Coppen, theatre maker. It is presented by the KKNK.