The culture and political environments of Botswana influence the collections management policy of... more The culture and political environments of Botswana influence the collections management policy of its' National Museum, Monuments and Art Gallery. The emphasis of this research is to make the museum relevent to the needs of the local people by developing more suitable ideas. The developed policy is intended to reflect these unique needs.
The aim of this paper is to start a dialogue on how the heritage of Botswana’s heads of state can... more The aim of this paper is to start a dialogue on how the heritage of Botswana’s heads of state can be preserved after their term in of fi ce. It was inspired by the private cataloguing of the second president of Botswana, Festus Mogae’s farewell memorabilia in 2010, after his term ended in 2008. The documentation of his collections revealed an existing gap of the curation of presidential heritage and memory in Botswana based on the lack of systematic preservation of the three former presidents’ collections. A presidential museum in Botswana can be established as one of the specialised museums recommended by the 1983 Oram and Nteta Report. Museums are places where past memories can be evoked and contested through collections and stories. The questions that this paper asks through the case study of Mogae’s collection are: What happens to the collections of Botswana’s presidents post-term? How can their heritage be preserved? Are their memories personal or national? Lastly, who is suppo...
ABSTRACT Anthropological research was traditionally conducted by foreign researchers in '... more ABSTRACT Anthropological research was traditionally conducted by foreign researchers in 'exotic' places. However, the trend changed over the years due to various reasons such as less funding for research abroad, resistance from new independent states, and the realization that, after all, the 'exotic' could be found even 'at home'. The research dynamics changed further when those who were studied earlier began to study their own. This paper is a reflection of my participatory observation in the 2009 bojale (girls' initiation) revival ceremony of Bakgatla-baga-Kgafela in Botswana. I entered bojale with dual roles of initiate and participant observer for my research. My ethnographic research was among my own and I was expected to adhere to the ceremony's rules in the same way as the other initiates. The discussion reflects on my dual identity experiences and relationships during initiation in order to interrogate ethnography among one's own culture. I conclude that, even though being 'at home' has advantages such as less travelling requirements and easy rapport, it is a complex process when it involves sacred ceremonies such as bojale because of the societal obligations such as adherence to secrecy that the researcher is bound by during and after the research.
The culture and political environments of Botswana influence the collections management policy of... more The culture and political environments of Botswana influence the collections management policy of its' National Museum, Monuments and Art Gallery. The emphasis of this research is to make the museum relevent to the needs of the local people by developing more suitable ideas. The developed policy is intended to reflect these unique needs.
The aim of this paper is to start a dialogue on how the heritage of Botswana’s heads of state can... more The aim of this paper is to start a dialogue on how the heritage of Botswana’s heads of state can be preserved after their term in of fi ce. It was inspired by the private cataloguing of the second president of Botswana, Festus Mogae’s farewell memorabilia in 2010, after his term ended in 2008. The documentation of his collections revealed an existing gap of the curation of presidential heritage and memory in Botswana based on the lack of systematic preservation of the three former presidents’ collections. A presidential museum in Botswana can be established as one of the specialised museums recommended by the 1983 Oram and Nteta Report. Museums are places where past memories can be evoked and contested through collections and stories. The questions that this paper asks through the case study of Mogae’s collection are: What happens to the collections of Botswana’s presidents post-term? How can their heritage be preserved? Are their memories personal or national? Lastly, who is suppo...
ABSTRACT Anthropological research was traditionally conducted by foreign researchers in '... more ABSTRACT Anthropological research was traditionally conducted by foreign researchers in 'exotic' places. However, the trend changed over the years due to various reasons such as less funding for research abroad, resistance from new independent states, and the realization that, after all, the 'exotic' could be found even 'at home'. The research dynamics changed further when those who were studied earlier began to study their own. This paper is a reflection of my participatory observation in the 2009 bojale (girls' initiation) revival ceremony of Bakgatla-baga-Kgafela in Botswana. I entered bojale with dual roles of initiate and participant observer for my research. My ethnographic research was among my own and I was expected to adhere to the ceremony's rules in the same way as the other initiates. The discussion reflects on my dual identity experiences and relationships during initiation in order to interrogate ethnography among one's own culture. I conclude that, even though being 'at home' has advantages such as less travelling requirements and easy rapport, it is a complex process when it involves sacred ceremonies such as bojale because of the societal obligations such as adherence to secrecy that the researcher is bound by during and after the research.
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