Familiar - but Different
!Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre provides a platform for San to share and explore San history and culture among both San community members and local and international visitors.
At !Khwa ttu we gather and disseminate information recorded about San to San, and we encourage all to engage in sensitive learning about San culture and the ancient and recent history of the San.
Our historical exhibitions draw particular attention to the longevity of San history and its links to human origins, issues of colonial genocide and discrimination against San.
Our community section deals with San resilience and development initiatives across the San. Our ‘Way of the San’ building sees visitors step into the heart of ‘traditional’ San life in the Kalahari.
Curation and Design
!Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre is a collaborative enterprise that brings together a diverse !Khwa ttu San Consultation Group, our !Khwa ttu San Community Pioneers, input from San community members and a variety of South African and international academic, museum and exhibition design experts.
The process is co-ordinated by the Director, Dr Chris Low, in close co-operation with Joram |Useb, !Khwa ttu Heritage Coordinator. For further information please contact Chris Low.
Heritage Programmes and Resources
Watch this space for developing heritage programmes.
Research Policy
Visitors are encouraged to engage with our research and collections as displayed in the Museum, and our San tour guides will be delighted to answer your questions. Currently, we do not have facilities for intensive use of our resources but will do our best to accommodate requests.
!Khwa ttu adheres to the San Code of Ethics. The code has been developed by the San to protect themselves from exploitation in research. You can read the code here.
It is written into !Khwa ttu’s mandate that !Khwa ttu is a ‘research free zone’, meaning that !Khwa ttu seeks to provide an environment where San at !Khwa ttu will not be opportunistically approached by researchers for research on San matters.
!Khwa ttu kindly requests that if any formal research is intended, enquiries should first be formulated with reference to the document here and then forwarded to Michael Daiber for consideration by our research committee.
Academic network
The !Khwa ttu Heritage Centre team is working alongside:
The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK
The University of Cape Town, South Africa
Sol Plaatje University and The McGregor Museum Kimberley, South Africa
Rhodes University, South Africa
Research Centre for San Studies, University of Botswana
Iziko Museums of South Africa
Kuru (San Foundation, Botswana)
The Peabody Museum, Harvard, USA
DER (Documentary educational resources), USA
Film archive of anthropologist and film maker Hugh Brody (re. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)
Photographic archive of Paul Weinberg