The Conservation and Curation of African Sacred Objects: Case study: Dinkho tsa Badimo (Ancestral ceramic vessels of the Basotho-Batswana of Southern Africa)

Mabafokeng Hoeane(She/They)

PhD candidate, Heritage Museums Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa

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Abstract

Ceramic vessels for centuries have been used across the world by different cultures and groups for various uses. The focus of this talk will be on ceramics created by the Basotho-Batswana group of Southern Africa. Ceramics as cultural heritage objects have been extensively studied by archaeologists and anthropologists with the focus of the literature being on their functions as vessels used for the transportation, storage, processing and serving of food, and through this study of foodstuffs an exploration of past lifeways, social exchanges and processes. This emphasis however is limited as few studies have engaged with the spiritual use of ceramic vessels in presenting ritual offerings and ceremonial practices. This could be a result of past museum collection practices which misclassified and misidentified these sacred vessels and incorporated them into collections as common household wares. The focus of this talk, based on published literature, museum records and interviews with traditional healers seeks to highlight the importance of the use of ancestral ceramic vessels in spiritual practices of Southern African Basotho-Batswana cultural groups. The focal point of the research has been to highlight the significance and importance of recognizing Dinkho tsa Badimoas a separate class of ceramics which in turn requires consideration in curatorial practice which the presenter believes forms part of decolonising African histories and artefacts.

Biography

Mabafokeng Hoeane is a Healer, Historian, Cultural and Heritage Curator and Conservator, and Alumni University of Pretoria Masters in Tangible Heritage Conservation.Currently, based in Pretoria, South Africa.Her work and research interests focus on decolonizing methods used to conserve and curate African sacred/spiritual objects in Museum collections.Her talk will speak on how Museums can care for and steward sacred objects, and how to build a deeper relationship with originating communities of these objects.She is a researcher at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria and part of the Andrew W. Mellon funded project tittle Entanglement, Mobility and improvisation: Culture and Arts in Contemporary African Urbanism and its Hinterlands.She is currently pursuing a PHD in Heritage Museum studies at the University of Pretoria.