The KZN Museum recently hosted their Sabalala Programme year end functions. The closing functions are held annually to reward the learners who participated in the Sabalala After School programme for their attendance and participation the 2019 year. On the 8 October learners from Edendale Primary School attended one of the year end function at the Museum and they included learners from the Grange Primary School, Caluza Primary School and Henryville Primary School. Learners were treated to a fun science show hosted by Fun Science Secret Lab. The Sabalala Nolwazi after school programme is an initiative run by the KZN Museum both through both outreach and in-house programmes. The outreach programme is designed to take educational museum resources to communities that are unable to visit the KwaZulu- Natal Museum. The programme focuses on CAPS aligned activities in different subjects. It also strives to educate the learners and communities about best practices to promote sustainable living within communities. Three times a week learners who can visit the Museum attend classes that are held during the week after schoo. 

Revisiting the Goodall archive: rock art as a site of enchantment

Justine Wintjes and Laura de Harde

Elizabeth Goodall née Elisabeth Mannsfeld (1891–1971) worked as a curator of rock art in what was then Southern Rhodesia for more than four decades. Originally from Germany, she was a member of the Frobenius expedition to southern Africa in 1928–1930. She returned to southern Africa after the expedition and went on to work at the Queen Victoria Museum in Salisbury (today the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, Harare). She produced a vast archive of rock art copies and recordings prior to the interpretative revolution that Patricia Vinnicombe and David Lewis-Williams pioneered in the 1970s and 1980s. Even though the meaning and purpose of the art remained largely enigmatic to her, Goodall was one of many artists trained in a western tradition who were inspired to make copies of rock art, despite having little to no understanding of its symbolic dimensions. Her copying practice illustrates the capacity of rock art to ‘enchant’ the viewer through its formal and material aspects.

Saturday, 19 October at 10h30, at the KZN Museum

The KwaZulu-Natal Museum hosted its annual Wellness Day today. The purpose of this event was to highlight the importance of wellness and good health among the Museum staff and volunteers. Bonitas medical aid scheme representatives were present to assist staff with various health screenings that included, blood pressure, blood sugar (glucose), cholesterol, BMI, and HIV testing. Staff members also participated in an aerobic exercise session that was facilitated by an instructor from Planet Fitness Gym.