Then We Were Bechuana
Item Set
Title
Then We Were Bechuana
Creator
Subject
An exhibition at the Khama III Memorial Museum, Serowe in 2021.
Description
A pictorial exhibition of ethnographic material collected by reverend Willoughby in the 1890’s from Batswana Bamangwato. This exhibition came this year because the originally planned exhibition was disturbed by COVID-19 and we had to adapt to the changes. The opening was on the 20th of February 2021 coupled with the Black History Month commemorations. Kgosi Gomolemo Ophile was the guest of honor representing the Bamangwato Tribal Authority and Mr. Seretse Khama from the board. A majority of the guests were from the Botswana Rastafarian community who are aware of Black history month and commemorate it annually. However, it has become somewhat a tradition that focus of the Black History Month has been mostly outside. This exhibition created an opportunity for self-discovery this time around. The story was made complete through a display of the pictures collected by Rev. Willoughby and highlighting some of the events which took place at Old Palapye. The attendees showed so much interest and expressed how they eagerly wait to see an exhibition with the original artefacts on display. Some were surprised that Batswana produced a large percentage of what they used at home. We had to limit numbers of attendees according to the COVID-19 protocol therefore we had about 25 people but anyhow the exhibition got coverage on Botswana Television and radio giving a wider audience reach. (SL 17/03/2021)
