Carnegie celebrating heritage through art
Embracing the different cultures in our country, the Cultural Diversity Umzansi/Image Exhibition was officially opened to the public on Friday evening at Carnegie Art Gallery.
South Africa is a country of rich cultural diversity and heritage, lovingly referred to as the rainbow nation.
Embracing the different cultures in our country, the Cultural Diversity Umzansi/Image Exhibition was officially opened to the public on Friday evening at Carnegie Art Gallery.
Pearl Niemand, Community Services Culture and Amenities Director, officially opened the exhibition.
“The Cultural Diversity/Image of Umzansi exhibition was curated by Phumzile Dlamini in 2014, while she was still working as the collections manager at Amafa – Heritage of KwaZulu-Natal in the KZN Cultural Museum in Ulundi,” Mrs Niemand said.
Upon Ms Dlamini’s appointment earlier this year as Curator of Carnegie Art Gallery, she decided it would be a worthwhile endeavour to send the exhibition to other towns.
“She saw the value of this exhibition, as well as the need for it to travel to other museums due to its good impact and educational value to the broader community. The exhibit will not be focusing on aesthetic taste only, but will also aim to embrace all South African cultures, namely the Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Sotho, Tswana, Pedi, Ndebele, Khoisan, Venda, Tsonga, Coloured, Indian and White, including the Chinese, as well as other people coming from all over the world to stay in Newcastle,” Mrs Niemand explained.
She said the exhibition featured heritage and history, and aimed to instil respect for other cultures, traditions, myths, religion, language and indigenous knowledge
“Lastly, it also endeavours to show we are all equal and racism, discrimination and xenophobia cannot build a nation,” she continued.
Ms Dlamini said it was imperative to know one’s heritage, living in a culturally diverse country.
“South Africa is a multicultural democractic country. It is important to know our history and to know where you are going. If you do not know what happened in the past, you cannot move forward,” she continued.
“No colour can stand alone. We influence each other and need each other. Racism, xenophobia and discrimination can take us nowhere but suffering,” she concluded.
