The Steering Committee for the 2020 national conference of the SA Society for Cultural History (SASCH) that will be co-hosted by the National Museum, recently visited Clarens on a fact finding mission to inspect possible venues for the conference and meet with local organizers and community members in Clarens. The Basotho Cultural Village was also visited.
Prophetess Anna Mantsopa Makhetha was born in 1795 at a place called Likotsi or Ramakhetheng near present day Maseru. She is the daughter of Nkopane, elder brother of Makhetha, and Sesilane. The name she was given at birth is Koena-li-fule, which means “the crocodiles are feeding/ crocodile feed”. When she was young she witnessed the horrors of famine caused by the Difaqane, which forced many people to turn to cannibalism and sadly this is how she lost her father.
The name Modjadji or Rain Queen refers to a line of queens of the Balobedu (Limpopo province, South Africa) known for their ability to control clouds and rainfall. The origin of the first Rain Queen is shrouded in mystery, but all accounts agree that she is a direct descendent of an old chief from the Karanga kingdom of Monomotapa (southeastern Zimbabwe).
Oliewenhuis Art Museum is giving honour to the life and work of an incredible artist,Karin Jaroszynska (1934-2014). Oliewenhuis holds 20 artworks of Jaroszynska in its permanent collection.Most of the works, including the Helsinki-series,were part of a generous donation by the art collector and philanthropist FernandF. Haenggi to Oliewenhuis in 2006; the remainder were purchased by Oliewenhuis. Her work- surrealist, playful and somewhat mysterious- shows Jaroszynska’s extraordinary talent and artistic integrity.
Today, 36 years, ago the United Democratic Front, the largest anti-apartheid formation since the banning of the political organisations in the 1960s was established in the Rocklands Civic Centre in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town.