Culna Articles

Animal and Plant Systematics Articles

The tiny burrowing lizards from the southern tip of Africa

BY Michael F. Bates March 3, 2026

The dwarf burrowing skinks comprise a genus of about 22 species of small, attenuate, fossorial lizards found mainly in Southern Africa. As a group, this genus is particularly interesting because of the degree of limb reduction found amongst its members. Some species have fore- and hindlimbs, with three, four or five digits or toes on each foot, depending on the species. Then there are a few species with hindlimbs but no forelimbs, and among these some have tiny limbs with two or only one digit on each foot. Finally, a few species are completely limbless.

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Public Rock Art sites of South Africa: Wonderwerk Cave

BY Jens Kriek March 2, 2026

Wonderwerk Cave is situated midway between Daniëlskuil and Kuruman on the R31 along the eastern slopes of the scenic Kuruman Hills in the Northern Cape Province. Its rich archaeological legacy including prehistoric rock art continues to captivate archaeologists and historians even after over 85 years of intensive excavation and research.

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Reprocessing the photograph: Material experimentation in the ArtBankSA collection

BY Niamh Walsh-Vorster February 24, 2026

Within the ArtBankSA collection, through annual acquisition cycles and Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP) art creating initiatives, an archive of photography-based artworks has been built. These artworks are more than traditional camera-to-print images, as the material life of the photograph through experimental and hybrid forms employed by the artist has resulted in new ways of presenting an image.

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The struggle for liberation was also ‘fought’ in Portuguese: uMkhonto weSizwe veteran Hauser Togoe in exile in Maputo (1980–1982)

BY Derek du Bruyn February 23, 2026

The history of South Africa’s liberation struggle (c. 1960–1994) is a multi-layered saga that is still being uncovered. This process involves oral interviews with veterans and in-depth research conducted in archives and repositories of anti-apartheid movements worldwide. During this ongoing exploration, previously overlooked and unknown aspects of the freedom fighting have emerged. Typically, these ‘hidden histories’ involve the lives and lived experiences of the foot soldiers in both the political resistance and armed battle against apartheid.

Culna Articles

COVID remembered: Relooking at the ArtBank Collection’s archive post-pandemic

BY Niamh Walsh-Vorster February 20, 2026

It’s a humid and humming Tuesday night. People spill out and slide into the main gallery space of the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts (KZNSA) to hear the opening speeches for Izihlahla Ziyokhuluma (Fig. 1), a 10-year anniversary celebration of the Durban-based Amasosha Collective^[1] and their artists’ works. Once one makes it through the entry, portraiture made with beads to blue painted and purple hue faces dominate the white walls of the KZNSA gallery.