Culture kept alive in Living Museums

Namibia is a country of diverse peoples, with traditions which are already in danger of disappearing. The significance of the old customs and practices is particularly dear to the heart of Werner Pfeifer. Born and bred in Namibia, he spent a few years in Germany as an actor in Viking and Stone Age performances. Together with another five committed people he founded the Living Culture Foundation Namibia, LCFN, in 2004 and thus triggered a revival of Namibia's indigenous cultures.
"I was very keen on learning about pre-colonial Africa and its arcane history, and that is how I came up with the idea of living museums", Werner says. The LCFN aims at implementing such museums within the communities of various Namibian peoples without providing finances for this purpose. "We help in other ways, by training members of the community in bookkeeping, marketing and tourism", Werner explains. The Living Museum is another village close to the one where the community lives. The museum's huts, the clothes, tools and all the other things of bygone days are made by the villagers themselves. They also brush up their knowledge of their ancestor's way of life. Visitors are shown, among other things, hunting practices and how ornaments were made. Thus the museum becomes a workplace and a business which they own and run, and the profits of which can be shared among the community.
"Once the museum gets going we are available as advisors, we go and see the villagers at regular intervals and we support them with their decisions and problems", Werner Pfeifer says. Problems do keep cropping up in the beginning. Communities first have to learn about the various cultures of their visitors, for example, or how to handle money. "But that is part of the process", Werner knows from experience, "and in the end the villagers take enormous pride in their project and in the fact that they are able to impart their knowledge about plants and animals not only to strangers but also to their own children".
In general one member of the community assumes responsibility and as the museum's manager organizes the daily business. Visitors to the Living Museum have a choice of several programmes which are presented by an English-speaking guide. Rates depend on the activities included in the different programmes. Usually there is also an elementary camping site in the vicinity. All Living Museums are open daily from sunrise to sunset.

The first living museum was established in 2004 as a joint effort of the LCFN and a group of San and has since developed into a popular tourist destination. The Museum of the Mafwe at Singalamwe, about 22 kilometres north of Kongola, followed in 2008.
Another three such projects were started in February this year: the Nharo Museum, originally on farm Okatuma-West but now on Airport Guest Farm, the Museum of the Damara near Twyfelfontein as well as the Living Hunter's Museum in Bushmanland, not far from Tsumkwe.
The Living Museum of the Ju/'Hoansi at GrashoekThe Ju/'Hoansi San live in the north-western Kalahari, in the northeast of Namibia, in the area between Grootfontein and the border of Botswana. For the past 30 years their lifestyle has only been semi-traditional because they had to settle around permanent water holes and are no longer allowed to hunt in the N//a Jaqna Conservancy. This first and so far particularly successful Living Museum was opened in 2004 in the village of Grashoek. There the Ju/'Hoansi are able to preserve their ancient culture and at the same time generate an income from tourism.
Visitors to the Living Museum are shown many aspects of the Ju/'Hoansi's ancient culture: hunting techniques, singing, dancing, games, art and crafts and making ornaments. They are also taken for a walk into the bush to search for edible and medicinal plants, of which there is an amazing variety. Authenticity is highly valued by the Ju/'Hoansi. Visitors therefore experience San culture in exactly the way it was 50 or 1000 years ago.
It is not possible to book visits in advance because there is no telephone. The Living Museum is so well organized, however, that visitors are received immediately.
The Living Museum of the MafweThe Living Museum of the Mafwe is the second project of its kind in Namibia. The Mafwe are one of the five Caprivi peoples in the furthest northeast of the country. Fishing, hunting, stock farming and agriculture is their traditional livelihood.
The Living Museum of the Mafwe was established in the beginning of 2008 near Singalamwe, some 22 km north of Kongola. The village is situated on a little hill overlooking the Kwando valley, in the midst of a spectacularly beautiful grove of Baobab trees which are particularly old and tall. The LCFN plans to build an official camping site in this Baobab grove. For a small fee the site may be used for camping already. Toilets were recently installed but there is no running water or electricity yet.
Visitors pay N$ 120 per person for a two-hour guided tour which ends with a dance and song performance. It is also possible to spend a whole day (N$ 250) with the Mafwe and learn to stamp Mahangu for cooking porridge, braid baskets, make bows and spears or traditional ornaments.
The Living Museum of the NharoThe Nharo San live in the wider area around Gobabis, in eastern central Namibia. They no longer follow the traditional hunter-gatherer way of life. At the beginning of the year a group of Nharo was given the opportunity to set up their own Living Museum on the farm Okatumba-West. They built their museum on their own and also run it themselves. Visitors are shown how the Nharo lived in the old days, long before they came into contact with European influences. Authenticity is particularly important to them as they demonstrate hunting with bow and arrow, reading animal tracks, setting traps and making ornaments, show their games and sing and dance. Food and medicinal plants are explained on a bush walk.
The museum has since been moved to Airport Guest Farm, near the international airport some 40 kilometres east of Windhoek. "It was a strategic decision to move the museum. Now it is closer to the capital and the tar road makes it easier to reach for visitors", says Werner. "Since Airport Guest Farm is a going hospitality business it is now possible for the museum to take root even better", he explains.
The Living Museum is an unforgettable experience, especially for children. Therefore the San now cater for children's birthday parties as well. For a total of N$ 500 up to ten children aged between eight and twelve years spend several exciting hours with the San. The hosts play traditional games with their guests, but also show them how to handle bow and arrow, make ornaments and much more.
The most recent development is cooperation between the Living Museum of the Nharo and the University of Namibia as well as Tucsin (The University Center for Studies in Namibia). Both institutions offer courses on tourism and on development in Namibia. Students visit the Living Museum on Airport Guest Farm to gain a better understanding of the country's history and culture. At the museum they can experience history from as close as it gets and also expand their knowledge.
Phone Henry, the manager of the museum, at 081 6122921
The Living Hunters Museum of the Ju/'Hoansi The Ju/'Hoansi are one of the language groups of the San people. They live in the larger Tsumkwe area in north-eastern Namibia. Regrettably none of them still lives the life of the hunter-gatherers they used to be. In order to keep the knowledge of their ancient traditions alive and at the same time generate income with it, the inhabitants of the //Xa/oba village decided to open a Living Museum. They earn money by showing visitors how their ancestors used to live, while their children also learn about their culture and the old ways of viewing the world and gain the special knowledge about animals, plants and healing. Thus the Living Museum is an institute of learning for San as well as visitors. This is an area where the San are still permitted to go hunting the traditional way. It is an aspect which makes this Living Museum unique in Namibia and even the whole of southern Africa!
Apart from a real hunting experience with bow and arrows some of the programmes offered at this museum also include reading animal tracks, setting traps, searching for bush food, utilize medicinal plants, singing, dancing, playing ancient games, making crafts and implements, and much more.
The Living Museum is situated directly on the road between Tsumkwe and Khaudom National Park. A large sign 23 km north of Tsumkwe shows the way. It is not possible to book a visit in advance, but the Ju/'Hoansi are highly organised and ready for visitors at any time.
The Living Museum of the DamaraThe Damara, indigenous people of Namibia (like the San), used to be hunter-gatherers but they also kept cattle, sheep and goats. When the Herero people moved into the country they lived in a state of war for some 150 years and as a result the Damara became impoverished. Many retreated to the mountainous areas which were avoided by the Herero. Colonial Europeans therefore learnt about them as shy 'Bergdamara' (Mountain Damara).
Today their communal land next to the Namib covers the area from around Usakos to Sesfontein. Many Damara make a living from keeping small livestock and from the sale of minerals. On the initiative of Hans-Bernhard Naobeb a group of Damara established a Living Museum near Twyfelfontein, the world-famous site of rock engravings.
Setting up this Living Museum not only put the Damara group around Hans-Bernhard severely to the test. The members of the Living Culture Foundation also had their doubts whether the culture of the Damara could be brought to life in a Living Museum at all because a Living Museum is characterized by a high level of authenticity. As the traditional culture of the Damara had all but disappeared the LCFN members felt for a long time that authenticity was not warranted.
The solution was to reconstruct the traditional culture on the basis of old pictures and texts and with the help of the San from the Living Museum of the Ju/'Hoansi. From scientific essays about the Damara and the Ju/'Hoansi it transpired that the traditional culture of the two peoples was very similar in some areas (e.g. the method of tanning leather, making clothes, ornaments and so forth). In May 2009 several Ju/'Hoansi from the museum in Grashoek were invited to a traditional workshop in Twyfelfontein. The Damara group arranged the meeting in order to learn the old techniques from the San again. It was the decisive moment in the attempt to establish a museum because it gave the Damara the ability to further develop their skills themselves. A second workshop in December concentrated on making tools, weapons and traps. With that the way for the successful establishment of a Living Museum of the Damara was finally open.
The Living Museum has been reconstructed according to old examples. Clad in their ancient leather costumes the Damara demonstrate traditional activities like forging, singing, dancing, playing, preparing food and making ornaments and implements. A bush walk is the opportunity for traditional hunting with bow and arrows, setting traps and getting to know the amazing diversity of edible and medicinal plants. The museum was opened in early 2010 and has taken root well. Because of the proximity to Twyfelfontein, a World Heritage Site, visitors tend to see the museum as a "quick in-between", but they come to this museum in larger numbers. Thus more people gain a glimpse of Damara culture.
You automatically pass the Living Museum of the Damara as you drive to Twyfelfontein. A signpost points the way just a few hundred metres behind the turn-off from the D2612 to Twyfelfontein.
Contact the manager couple Hans-Bernhard and Thalita Naobes at 081 3263669.
By now there is considerable interest in the living museum concept in South Africa as well. Werner Pfeiffer and Sebastian Dürrschmidt were recently invited by the African Safari Lodge Foundation to visit the #Khomani San in the communal areas south of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and explain the project. As a result, twelve #Khomani travelled to the Nharo Museum near Windhoek to see how the project works. During their eight-day stay they were shown by Nharo San how to make ornaments, clothes and tools. Dürrschmidt hopes that "perhaps it is possible for the living museum concept to expand beyond Namibia's borders, so that the survival of traditional peoples and their culture is secured and an independent source of income becomes available to them".
According to Dürrschmidt motivation of the people concerned is particularly important for setting up living museums. "They have to take ownership of the project so that they can really see it through and make a living out of it", he says. "There are in fact quality control groups who check up on each other and make sure that nobody goes to work drunk, for example, and that clothes and tools are always kept neat and tidy". In Namibia the concept of the living museum has taken hold. Groups from various peoples now contact the LCFN because they also want to set up a museum. A number of new ones are already in the pipeline. "It will still take a while before the Kavango and Khwe or the Ovahimba at Opuwo are ready for this, but no doubt they will also manage to open their own museum one day...."
For more information, pictures etc. please visit www.lcfn.info.