Moruleng Gets Cultural Precinct
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday May 4, 2015 12:48
The Moruleng Cultural Precinct is a 21st century museum space that celebrates the cultural history of the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela. It is part of a wider plan by Kgosi Nyalala Pilane to make Moruleng the first post apartheid city in South Africa. The cultural centre is hoped to benefit not only his morafe but the rest of South Africa. It is unlike any exhibition centre that community owned museums have developed so far. It is a highly conceptual and an immersive space that stimulates the creative and critical thinking of visitors.
Partly funded by the Lottery Board through a R7 million donation, it has offerings that include the museum, the oldest Bakgatla church, the 150 year old Dutch Reformed Church, a new building of the United Reformed Church, the amphitheatre, a coffee shop, a craft shop, conference facility, the gallery and landscaping that is reminiscent of the Bakgatla settlement in the 1900. The landscaping includes a hut displaying technique that the morafe used to erect shelters.
Exhibitions at the Moruleng Cultural Precinct cover traditional Batswana knowledge systems, the recorded history of Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela, oral traditions, a reconstruction of an iron age settlement and an exhibition in the old Dutch Reformed Church building that explores the influence of Christianity.
Among the many recognisable features of the museum is the bust of Kgosi Lentswe I, a tribute to the deceased Bakgatla tribesmen in the South African war of 1889-1902. Another interesting feature is the mini-silo installed on the North Eastern corner of the precinct. In the past, Bakgatla built their own silos with local brick and mortar to store the harvest for morafe. Kgosi Nyalala said there is a plan to open satellite offices of the precinct in various villages of Bakgatla. The crafts centre will also stock products from all over South Africa.
Nyalala said the craft centre and the gallery will go a long way to stimulate a creative spirit among his people and beyond. “In the past, there was nowhere artists could market their crafts, but now we will identify them and encourage them to unleash their artistry, thus economically empowering them,” Nyalala said.
The launch of the project was attended by at least three cabinet ministers. Bakgatla’s cultural heritage in the form of men and women performing bogwera and bojale songs were showcased during the launch.
The ministers praised Nyalala for his prudent management of resources and being in the forefront of developing his people. The cultural precinct is part of the master plan 2030 developed by Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela Traditional Administration (BBKTA) in Moruleng as their growth and development strategy in the post apartheid South Africa.
The development strategy involves turning Moruleng into the first post- apartheid city. The city dream has so far resulted in the construction of the Moruleng Stadium, the water reservoir, Moruleng mall and lately the Moruleng Cultural Precinct. As part of their development strategy, Moruleng has also been awarded a licence to run the first rural television channel in South Africa. The channel will be up and running in October this year.
“We have been awarded the TV licence, we will be live on air by the turn of the year,” said a confident Pilane. Already, a TV training academy has been set up in Moruleng. The accredited training centre has been operational for over three years.