Location: de bblthk…, Stationsstraat 2, Wageningen
Date: October 10 - 14, 2006
Recently the term bio-cultural diversity has been proposed to illustrate the inextricable, reciprocal link between cultural diversity and biodiversity. South African researchers have documented that while natural resources are important for utilitarian purposes such as building material and fuel wood etc, almost half of the total amounts of wild harvested plant resources are used for spiritual and ritual purposes. In both rural and urban communities such cultural practices are used to sustain cultural practices and maintain cultural identity. The exhibition depicts the present-day use of wild plants for various cultural and spiritual practices in both rural and urban Xhosa households.
The exhibition was prepared by Tony Dold, Selmar Schonland Herbarium, and Michelle Cocks, Institute of Social and Economic Research, of Rhodes University within the framework of a joint research project with the Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University; it was funded by the South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD). In South Africa the exhibition won acclaim at the Grahamstown art festival and was exhibited in several museums. The exhibition is shown in Wageningen in connection with the defense of the dissertation ‘Wild resources and cultural practices in rural and urban households in South Africa. Implications for bio-cultural diversity conservation’ by Michelle Cocks.