Khama III Memorial Museum

Khama III Memorial Museum
EstablishedOctober 19, 1985 (1985-10-19)
LocationSerowe, Botswana
Coordinates22°22′56″S 26°42′29″E / 22.382132°S 26.708068°E / -22.382132; 26.708068
TypeHistory museum

The Khama III Memorial Museum is a museum located in Serowe, Botswana. The museum is dedicated to the history of the Khama family and Serowe.

History

In 1985, the museum was opened for the first time. Lenyetse Seretse donated a house for the museum, which had been built around 1910.[1] The intention with creating this museum was to promote cultural pride in Serowe.[2] The museum has produced an occasional journal called Lekgapho, which is distributed widely around Botswana.[3]

Collections and exhibitions

Among the museum's exhibits include correspondence, uniforms and furniture, in addition to exhibits on snakes and animals native to Africa.[2] The museum contains musical instruments from the eastern Kalahari[4] and ethnographic artifacts from Bangwato merafe, which date back to the time of Khaima III.[5] The museum also has artifacts about the culture of the San people and the museum contains temporary art displays.[6] In addition, the museum has also preserved historical Botswana uniforms.[7]

The museum contains photographs of the funeral of Botswana's first president, Seretse Khama,[8] and archives about the Khama family.[9]

After writer Bessie Head's death, the museum acquired several of her papers, including notes and sketches as well as writings.[10] In 2006, Bessie Head's room was installed in the museum, as well as permanent exhibits about the writer.[11] In July 2013, the Bessie Head Society in collaboration with the museum organized a symposium in Serowe to commemorate the anniversary of the publication of Bessie's book, A Question of Power.[12]

In November 2020, the museum opened 'Then we were Bechuana', a display of late 19th-century items, curated by Scobie Lekhutile and Gase Kediseng. The display featured digitised images of items in Brighton Museum. The real items were intended to have been displayed through an international loan but this had not been possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]

In 2026, Brighton and Hove Museums announced the repatriation of 45 objects to the Khama III Memorial Museum.[14][15] The items from the Gammangwato region had been acquired by a missionary who had worked with Khama III and were lent to Brighton Museum in 1899 before being donated in 1936.[13][14] The James Henry Green Charitable Trust supported the repatriation and the development of a permanent exhibition in which to display the items, to open in May 2026.[14][16] A cultural festival was planned to celebrate the repatriation and Botswana's creativity and history.[14]

International connections

In 2014, the U.S. government donated $78000 (1 074 028,02 pula) to preserve the museum's artifacts which include Khama family manuscripts and Bessie's literary works.[17] The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and Danish Volunteer Service have also financially supported the museum.[18]

The British High Commissioner to Botswana, Katy Ransome, visited some of Serowe's historical sites in August 2016, including the museum.[19] In October 2018, Cuba's ambassador to Botswana, Patricia L. Pego Guerra, visited the museum.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Mwakikagile, Godfrey (2010). Botswana: Profile of a Nation. Continental Press. ISBN 978-9987-9322-9-0.
  2. 1 2 "Know Your Museums". Mmegi Online. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  3. ↑ Molyneaux, B. L.; Stone, P. G. (2 September 2003). The Presented Past: Heritage, Museums and Education. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-86510-9.
  4. ↑ Dlamini, Sazi (10 December 2020). Musical Bows of Southern Africa. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-5013-4675-0.
  5. ↑ Seretse, Gasebalwe (27 May 2009). "Botswana: Khama III Museum, a Place Worth Visiting [sic]". AllAfrica. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  6. ↑ Ham, Anthony; Holden, Trent (1 September 2017). Lonely Planet Botswana & Namibia. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-78701-163-2.
  7. ↑ Rey, Sir Charles Fernand; Parsons, Neil (1988). Monarch of All I Survey: Bechuanaland Diaries, 1929-37. Botswana Society. ISBN 978-0-85255-016-8.
  8. ↑ Setlhabi, Keletso Gaone (2016). "Evoking Memory: A Curatorial Perspective on Botswana's Presidential Heritage". Botswana Notes and Records. 48: 368–382. ISSN 0525-5090. JSTOR 90025352.
  9. ↑ Morton, Fred; Ramsay, Jeff; Mgadla, Part Themba (23 April 2008). Historical Dictionary of Botswana. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6404-7.
  10. ↑ Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Gates (Jr.), Henry Louis (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  11. ↑ Agbo, Joshua (17 June 2021). Bessie Head and the Trauma of Exile: Identity and Alienation in Southern African Fiction. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-39863-2.
  12. ↑ Daymond, M.J. (3 July 2014). "Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Publication of Bessie Head's A Question of Power (1973)". Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa. 26 (2): 112. doi:10.1080/1013929X.2014.957521. ISSN 1013-929X. S2CID 62064839.
  13. 1 2 McGregor, JoAnn; Lekhutile, Scobie; Kediseng, Gase (2 September 2024). "'Restoring' Museum Collections to Decolonial Ends: Constraints and Opportunities for Disrupting Racialised Marginalisation in Southern Africa". Third Text. 38 (4–5): 495–518. doi:10.1080/09528822.2024.2441630. ISSN 0952-8822.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Atkinson, Rebecca (27 April 2026). "Brighton & Hove Museums to repatriate 45 artefacts to Botswana". Museums Association. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  15. ↑ Malgwi, Danielle (27 April 2026). "Museum announces return of artefacts to Botswana".
  16. ↑ Mulenga, Bumba (28 April 2026). "UK Museum to return 45 artefacts to Botswana in landmark repatriation". Zambia Monitor. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "US government helps preserve Khama III Memorial Museum and Bessie Head archives". Sunday Standard Botswana. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  18. ↑ "Khama museum: Hiden, lonely treasure". Botswana Daily News. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  19. ↑ "British High Commissioner Visits Serowe". AllAfrica. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  20. ↑ "Embajadora de Cuba en Botswana, visita el Museo Memorial Khamma III, como parte de su visita oficial a Serowe". Embajadas y Consulados de Cuba (in Spanish). 22 October 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.