The KwaZulu-Natal Museum at the Origin of the World

Photo: J. Wintjes

The exhibition The Origin of the World opened at Wits University’s Origins Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday 7 September. Curated by Dr Vibeke Viestad, it offers a fresh perspective on San dress as a complex expression of being in the world, helping people to be themselves and be with others.

Photo: J. Wintjes

Rock art tracings done by Vibeke in collaboration with Drs Ghilraen Laue and Justine Wintjes of the Department of Human Sciences, KwaZulu-Natal Museum, as well as two tortoiseshell boxes from the Museum's collections, are on display among many items borrowed from various other institutions. You’ll find lots to see, as well as touch and smell. The exhibition will be up until mid-2024.

The KZN Museum is saddened by the passing of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) founder and Traditional Prime Minister to the Zulu Monarch, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who passed away in the early hours of Saturday (9 September 2023) morning.

Our deepest sympathies go to the Buthelezi family, the Zulu Royal Family as well as the Zulu Nation at large. Sithi akwehlanga lungehli, ulale ngoxolo Shenge!

#kznmuseum #ZuluMonarch #PrinceButhelezi #Shenge #RestInPeace

Celebrating Fifty Years of Archaeology-Remembering Past Staff: Dr Jeremy Hollmann

Dr Jeremy Hollmann completed his Bachelor of Social Sciences, majoring in Industrial Psychology and African Languages in 1986 at the University of Cape Town. He went on to do his Masters degree in Archaeology at the University of Witwatersrand, which he completed in 2003 with distinction. In 2011, he received his doctoral degree from the University of the Western Cape for his dissertation on the Khoe-San engravings at Gesoptefontein-Driekuil.

He was a research officer from 1998 to 2004 in the Rock Art Research Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand and in 2005 he joined the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, where he worked until 2012, before going into private practice. During his time at the museum, he worked with members of the amaNgwane and amaZizi Traditional Authority Areas as part of the Amagugu eSizwe programme, locating and conserving rock art in these two areas west of Bergville in the northern uKhahlamba-Drakensberg. This work encompassed training, photography and graffiti removal. Jeremy was also instrumental in improving the curation of the museum’s rock art pieces by implementing new storage methods, cleaning techniques and exhibition practices, including the improvement of the eBusingatha, Meads, and Bamboo Mountain rock art pieces. Jeremy continues to be prolific in the field of rock art research, conducting extensive fieldwork and publishing frequently.