OVAHIMBA HERITAGE VALIDATION AND SAFEGUARD

In 2020, the Cluster was awarded a Carl Schlettwein Foundation grant to enable the safeguard of the Ovahimbacultural heritage by co-creating a digital repository of intangible cultural Ovahimba heritage in collaboration with the Ovahimba community members from Kunene, based on previous recordings. As part of a Carl Schlettwein Foundation grant, our team travelled to Epupa, Kunene region. The main objective of the trip was to showcase and select content that the ovaHimba deem appropriate. This was done through a series of sessions during which Epupa community members, comprising of young and old, specified the images and videos that are a true representation of them and their culture. The deliberations were extensive and studious as the community members scrutinised the content intensively. An interesting theme of contention was the cultural garments, whereby the community discussed the meaning and relevance of certain garments and artefacts. During the discussions there was further contention pertaining the inclusion of non-ovaHimba artefacts and people in content that represents the ovaHimba.