MAKULEKE CULTURAL PROJECT

Makuleke Cultural Project, Limpopo, South Africa

Cultural tourism initiatives based on local values and traditions offer an effective and sustainable base for community economic empowerment as well as potentially generating a sense of communal pride. Amongst many initiatives was the design and construction of a craft and Interpretation Centre where exhibitions and oral histories would present local heritage and culture. Also part of the initiative is a guesthouse that reflects the local vernacular construction, providing a venue for interaction with tourists and visiting scholars.

Just as the community members became the client, they became the builders of the projects using their traditional skills. Therefore the buildings is an inventory and demonstration of local building techniques as well as an illustration of how new technology can extend and enhance traditional methods.

The visitor will experience the “living culture” of the Shangaan and will witness a community in the process of reclaiming its identity through the reclamation of a new public space in the centre of the village.

Awards

• Project Award, 2001; South African Institute of Architects.

Selected Bibliography

Cooke, J. (ed.) Makuleke Reinterpretation Centre, Architecture South Africa (Cape Town), Sep/Oct. 2001: 48-49