NATALIE KNIGHT
imagined past. It is important to pay careful
attention to the peculiarities of South African
history … those elements that stereotype
individuals and communities on the basis of the
language(s) they speak.’
Natalie recalled ‘When I was curating the
exhibition on the culture of the Tsonga/
Shangaan Dungamanzi/Stirring Waters with
Billy Makhubele and Nessa Leibhammer at
the Johannesburg Art Gallery, I wanted to use a
large photograph of the sangoma whose name
was Dungamanzi to show how she wore her
tribal regalia.
Nessa refused to do this and also was adamant
that no models could be used as part of the
display. She referred to a diorama in which San
people were described as ‘Bushmen’ and were seen
sitting in groups and told me that this had been
removed in 2001 from the South African National
Gallery. The director of the Iziko Museum
reported as follows: ‘The exhibition was shut
down after 42 years following protests from the
Khoisan community and others who said the
diorama represented a time when
Bushmen were treated like specimens in a natural
history museum. A modeller at the South African
Museum, James Drury, originally cast the Bush
man figures in 1912 in the Northern Cape.’
The current museum thinking is not to use a figure for
display as it is demeaning.
The next question is: Who should tell the history?
Can a white academic be relied upon to be sensitive,
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