According to the National Museum chief curator, Phillip Segadika, the short film stood shoulder to shoulder with masterpieces from Mali, the Aztecs, and Oceania at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He explained it as not just a film but also a statement. "Of the 12 Cultural Landmarks films recently produced by The Met, only three are actively screened within the museum galleries. Tsodilo is one of them. The rest are accessible through QR codes. That curatorial choice speaks volumes: The Met is signalling that rock art is not an appendix to history, it is its prologue," he explained. Furthermore, Segadika pointed out that Tsodilo and Blombos, two ancient film connects Tsodilo to the broader arc of early human creativity by referencing Blombos Cave in South Africa, where an ochre engraving, dated from around 80, 000 years ago, stands as the earliest known abstract design by Homo Sapiens. Tsodilo, while not directly discussed in terms of its ancient ritual layers, complements this narrative through its archaeological record at Rhino Cave, where ash deposits, artefacts, and a carved serpentine rock point to ceremonial use dating back tens of thousands of years. Segadika said, rather than rivals, those two sites are companions in the origin story of symbolic life, with Blombos offering abstract cognition, and Tsodilo offering sacred context and spiritual space.
He further pointed out that founded in 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the most visited and influential cultural institutions in the world. With over six million annual visitors and a digital footprint of more than 10 million followers across platforms, Segadika said the museum decides on what to display and how to have a lasting global impact. He added that the reopening of its Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Galleries was a reorientation, positioning African art not as peripheral but as central to the museum’s vision of world culture. "Botswana’s presence in this story is no small thing. It is an invitation to the world to look deeper, listen longer, and journey further. Tsodilo’s inclusion is not only a source of national pride,” said Segadika, who is also a heritage specialist and Rockefeller Fellow at The Met. He said it was a catalyst that opened doors for tourism, adding that it was, more importantly, for knowledge exchange and cultural diplomacy. He explained that sites like Tsodilo could connect African nations to the world not only economically, but intellectually and spiritually. Segadika added that the Tsodilo short film was done by the MET in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund to formulate a conservation partnership with Tsodilo. While the film highlights Tsodilo’s grandeur and living traditions, introducing ancient rock art as a new anchor in an art museum, he said it touched only lightly on its deep-time archaeological significance.
