The only heritage centre in the world to be dedicated to South Africa's indigenous San people was launched yesterday.
!Khwa ttu Heritage Centre is located on !Khwa ttu Farm, about an hour’s drive from Cape Town on the West Coast.
The centre is described as a unique place of learning and sharing that is owned and run for and by the San, and addresses the hopes and dreams of San all over southern Africa.
Co-curated by San communities, the centre is a place to tell their story in ways of their choosing, a place of dignity where their voices can be heard and the past remembered for a better future, as well as a place to tell the world who the San are.
Director of South African San Council Leana Snyders said: “!Khwa ttu brings back the pride in the people, it brings back the dignity in the people, because they are telling their story in their own way. It comes from within them.”
She added that a vast quantity of scholarships had been carried out on the San, with very little ever being made available to the subjects of that research. She said the !Khwa ttu Heritage Centre sought to address that and serve !Khwa ttu’s mission of cultural restitution.
Initiator of the !Khwa ttu Heritage Centre project Irene Staehelin said: “There is no group in mankind that has been written about more than the San, the Bushmen people.
“And where are these books? They're in the libraries, in the universities. They’re not in the possession of the people. So what we want to do here is restitute those stories, those films, that knowledge, those images, and then the Bushman people can decide: ‘Yes, we accept this and this and this, and this we would rather not take for our heritage.’ It’s for them to decide.”
Those who had also been instrumental in the project's creation include the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa, San communities throughout the region and the SA San Institute (Sasi) - a San support organisation.
The project also included setting up a tourism and training project, focusing on education and training, income generation, culture and heritage.