San and Khoe Languages, Cultures and Change
An introduction to the complexities of San language and culture
Double Vision (2006) by Pippa Skotnes and Malcolm PayneOriginal Source: Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand
"Know me through my tongue"
Eland bones from 'Double Vision' (2006) by Pippa Skotnes and Malcolm Payne, with poetry and phrases by San (/Xam) individualsOriginal Source: Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand
Diverse San languages
The southern African peoples referred to as the ‘San’ and ‘Khoe’ have been the subject of racist myths and misperceptions in the past. Today, ‘Khoe’ and ‘San’ groups are fighting against their exploitation and asserting their presence in politics and among southern Africa's diverse societies.
Rain animal (2019) by San Hunter-GathererOriginal Source: Rock Art Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand. www.sarada.co.za
Ethnography and understanding San beliefs and practices
Threads of Knowing: Genocide (2006) by Tamar MasonOriginal Source: Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand
Letitia Pietersen's story
Copy of Sebaaieni Cave, Ndedema Gorge (2006) by Harold PagerOriginal Source: Rock Art Research Institute
Ethnography and the San in the Kalahari
During the 19th and 20th centuries, linguists and anthropologists in southern Africa often treated the indigenous people as relics from the past. These outsider accounts about people in the Kalahari living in modern situations during the 1950s and 1960s struck a chord in popular imaginings about how the foragers of the distant past might have lived.
Trance dance, redrawing (2019) by San Hunter-GathererOriginal Source: Rock Art Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand. www.sarada.co.za
Clicks with Gcina Mhlophe
Threads of Knowing: Settled Life (2006) by Tamar MasonOriginal Source: Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand
Mixing of culture, language and ways of life
Through hundreds of years of interaction among diverse groups of people, including foragers, herders, farmers and settlers, versions of belief systems and indigenous knowledge have filtered into the present and are adapted and practiced by many people in southern Africa.
Eland-headed snake (2006) by Russell ScottOriginal Source: Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand
Making museums relevant, true and meaningful
"We had knowledge from our grandparents, about how they used to go hunting and gathering and communicated with our ancestors. I never learned about rock art. When I came here, my mind opened." - Nashada Ndango, a guide the !Khwa ttu San Cultural Centre
The San and Khoe people of southern Africa
Letitia Pietersen
Narrator: Gcina Mhlophe
Online Exhibition Curator: Tammy Hodgskiss
