Namibia’s ‘living museums’ preserve traditional culture

WITHIN the next two weeks Namibia will have five living museums. Three San museums and a Mafwe museum have already been established and a Damara museum near Twyfelfontein will be opened in the next week.

The Mafwe museum is located 19 km north of Kongola and it was opened in 2008 by the Mafwe themselves. The living museum of the Ju/’Hoansi-San near Tsumkwe was established in 2004 and is now managed completely by the San. The newest living museum is the one of the Nharo-San on the farm Okatumba West near Seeis, 40 km east of the Windhoek Airport.Living museums depict the lifestyle and culture of the ethnic group living in the museum. They give visitors insight into their lives while earning money. The people show visitors their traditional customs, including the use of bush food, tracking, snaring and other hunting methods, making crafts, singing and dancing and much more. An English-speaking member of the group serves as a guide, explaining the different activities to visitors.The driving force behind the living museums is the Living Culture Foundation Namibia, which has five active members. The aim of the foundation is to establish a living museum for every cultural group living in Namibia. This not only preserves the different cultures but also gives the groups an opportunity to earn an income and benefit from tourism. It is also a school for traditional skills and values, as the children of the groups are actively involved in the activities of the museum.The newly opened Nharo-San museum has six adults, two teenagers and seven children living on the farm. The people live in houses supplied with water and electricity and each mor-ning before sunrise they go an opening in the veld next to the White Nossob River and start their day. Visitors can choose from a variety of activities including bush walks, game tracking, singing and dancing. The San have to pay 20 per cent of their income from the activities and crafts sales to the farm owner in return for free housing, the use of water and electricity and the provision of meat from the farm. Members of the living museum have their own bank accounts and the money they earn belongs to them – should they decide to leave the living museum they take all their savings with them.More information on living museums can be obtained from the website www.Icfn.info.