Amazwi Literary Museum, Makhanda : HumaNature
A Panorama of the HumaNature exhibition in Makhanda, South Africa. Taken 8th August 2019.
The Gardens of NELM
We take a look at South Africa’s first “green” museum, the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown (NELM). The combination of modern architecture and beautiful gardens will be open to the public as an educational space when the NELM officially opens in the upcoming months of 2017.
The National English Literary Museum serves as an archive of literature. The building also boasts indigenous gardens and a rooftop garden covering the archive. The public, especially students, can come and learn about local culture from tour guide Basil Mills and experience the Eastern Cape landscape described in the literature inspiring the gardens
Report by Deepa Kesa, Lucy Grinker & Anelisa Sandi
School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University
Transforming NELM
The National English Literary Museum (NELM) hosted an African Colloquium with some of the continent’s most renowned authors. to celebrate Africa Month. Amongst the dignitaries were Lebo Mashile, Professor Zakes Mda, Professor Ama Ata Aidoo and Professor Keorapetse Kgositsile.
The Minister of Arts and Culture announced that NELM would now deal with all South African literature in all official languages.
RUTV caught up with NELM at the first public event in their new R127million building in Grahamstown.
Report by Thingolwenkosazane Mthombeni & Fikile Hlalethwa
School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University
NELM celebrates Africa Day
A jubilant atmosphere filled the air on Friday 24 May as pupils from three Grahamstown schools celebrated Africa Day with the National English Literary Museum (NELM).
Children from Ntaba Maria Primary, Kuyasa Special School and the Grahamstown Seventh Day Adventist School were invited to a parade and storytelling session held by NELM to celebrate Africa Day and the 50th anniversary of the African Union (AU).
Starting in Milner Street, the children made their way to NELM on Beaufort Street carrying brightly coloured African flags. Then they settled on the grass for one or two traditional stories from Basil Mills, the senior technician and education officer at the museum.
Mills said he wanted to show the children what a beautiful and vibrant continent they live on, using stories, music and art to inspire them. Colourful masks and maps dotting the fence outside the museum were created by Kuyasa pupils.
The children were also addressed by Zongezile Matshoba, the museum's manager of education and public programmes.
Mills's message was that the children had something to celebrate.
There's always been bad news about Africa, but it's not the case, he said.
Here, we've also got lots of wonderful people, and what I'm trying to do is get them together to spread the news about how great South Africa is.
Spoken Word: sketches, snippets and signatures
By Sarah Rose de Villiers
Spoken Word is packed with punches that ripple with rhymes wrapped in rhythms that twist the mind.
The South African spoken word scene was celebrated and cultivated last week with a festival of performed poetry, which was held at the Eastern Star Museum. The festival, 'Arc to the Future', was presented by the English Department of Rhodes University and the National English Literary Museum from 9 - 11 September.
It was a spectacular success. Audiences filled the seats, sat on the floors and leaned against walls as exceptional spoken word exploded silence and set the scene alight.
Find the article here:
On the Beat at the 1820 Settlers Monument
The Monument, as it is known colloquially among Grahamstown locals, is the hub of the National Arts Festival, holding the main booking office, the grand Guy Butler Theatre, restaurants, and a plethora of performance and exhibition venues CueTube reporter Aneesha Ndebele chats with Festinos at the venue
Report by Aneesha Ndebele & Dumisa Lengwati
School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
Makana Prime Time - news bulletin
Makana Prime Time - an RUTV news bulletin recorded in the Africa Media Matrix at Rhodes University on the 25th of May. Anchor Phiwo Dhlamini takes us through top stories in Grahamstown.
The news focus includes:
Protest at Fort Hare Centenary Celebrations, commuters criticize the campus transport system, NELM (National English literacy Museum) now to reflect all South African literature, 'DISRUPT' documentary about Institutional rape culture is premiered and we see a new public garden and social space developed by a citizen.
Mummy
A mummy is a deceased human or animal whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some authorities restrict the use of the term to bodies deliberately embalmed with chemicals, but the use of the word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes back to at least 1615 AD. (See the section Etymology and meaning.)
Mummies of humans and other animals have been found on every continent, both as a result of natural preservation through unusual conditions, and as cultural artifacts. Over one million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, many of which are cats. (See: Animal mummy)
This video is targeted to blind users.
Attribution:
Article text available under CC-BY-SA
Creative Commons image source in video
South African Novelist Zakes Mda's Exclusive Interview With OppiTV
OppiTV's Editor-in-Chief, Phiwokuhle Mandisa Dhlamini interviews South African novelist, playwright and poet, Professor Zakes Mda. Watch this exclusive interview to find out what the award winning novelist has to say about the importance of politics, art and literature in pre and post democratic South Africa.
Mummy | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Mummy
00:01:35 1 Etymology and meaning
00:03:04 2 History of mummy studies
00:05:16 3 Types
00:06:03 4 Egyptian mummies
00:10:43 4.1 Mummification and rank
00:11:23 4.1.1 Most perfect method
00:13:38 4.1.2 Avoiding expense
00:14:39 4.1.3 Inexpensive method
00:15:03 5 Christian mummies
00:15:19 6 Mummification in other cultures
00:15:29 6.1 Africa
00:15:51 6.1.1 Libya
00:17:01 6.1.2 South Africa
00:17:36 6.2 Asia
00:18:07 6.2.1 China
00:20:43 6.2.2 Iran
00:21:40 6.2.3 Siberia
00:23:02 6.2.4 Philippines
00:23:25 6.3 Europe
00:24:05 6.3.1 Bog bodies
00:25:27 6.3.2 Canary Islands
00:26:20 6.3.3 Czech Republic
00:28:03 6.3.4 Denmark
00:29:55 6.3.5 Hungary
00:30:29 6.3.6 Italy
00:32:20 6.4 North America
00:32:54 6.4.1 Canada
00:33:36 6.4.2 Greenland
00:34:09 6.4.3 Mexico
00:35:25 6.4.4 United States
00:36:06 6.5 Oceania
00:36:45 6.5.1 Australia
00:37:28 6.5.2 Torres Strait
00:38:12 6.5.3 New Zealand
00:39:38 6.6 South America
00:40:38 6.6.1 Chinchorro mummies
00:41:22 6.6.2 Inca mummies
00:44:31 7 Self-mummification
00:45:34 8 Modern mummies
00:45:43 8.1 Jeremy Bentham
00:46:40 8.2 Vladimir Lenin
00:47:30 8.3 Gottfried Knoche
00:48:11 8.4 Summum
00:48:49 8.5 Alan Billis
00:49:25 8.6 Plastination
00:50:26 9 Treatment of ancient mummies in modern times
00:52:50 10 In popular culture
00:53:00 11 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
A mummy is a deceased human or an animal whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some authorities restrict the use of the term to bodies deliberately embalmed with chemicals, but the use of the word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes back to at least 1615 AD (See the section Etymology and meaning).
Mummies of humans and other animals have been found on every continent, both as a result of natural preservation through unusual conditions, and as cultural artifacts. Over one million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, many of which are cats. Many of the Egyptian animal mummies are sacred ibis, and radiocarbon dating suggests the Egyptian Ibis mummies that have been analyzed were from time frame that falls between approximately 450 and 250 BC.In addition to the well-known mummies of ancient Egypt, deliberate mummification was a feature of several ancient cultures in areas of America and Asia with very dry climates. The Spirit Cave mummies of Fallon, Nevada in North America were accurately dated at more than 9,400 years old. Before this discovery, the oldest known deliberate mummy was a child, one of the Chinchorro mummies found in the Camarones Valley, Chile, which dates around 5050 BC. The oldest known naturally mummified human corpse is a severed head dated as 6,000 years old, found in 1936 AD at the site named Inca Cueva No. 4 in South America.
Desmond Tutu | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Desmond Tutu
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (born 7 October 1931) is a South African Anglican cleric and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was the Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then the Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first indigenous black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from black theology with African theology; politically, he identifies as a socialist.
Tutu was born of mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage to a poor family in Klerksdorp, British Imperial South Africa. Entering adulthood, he trained as a teacher and married Nomalizo Leah Tutu, with whom he had several children. In 1960, he was ordained as an Anglican priest and in 1962 moved to the United Kingdom to study theology at King's College London. In 1966 he returned to southern Africa, teaching at the Federal Theological Seminary and then the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. In 1972, he became the Theological Education Fund's director for Africa, a position based in London but necessitating regular tours of the African continent. Back in southern Africa in 1975, he served first as dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg and then as Bishop of Lesotho, taking an active role in opposition to South Africa's apartheid system of racial segregation and white-minority rule. From 1978 to 1985 he was general-secretary of the South African Council of Churches, emerging as one of South Africa's most prominent anti-apartheid activists. Although warning the National Party government that apartheid would lead to racial violence, as an activist he stressed non-violent protest and foreign economic pressure to bring about change.
In 1985 he became Bishop of Johannesburg and in 1986 the Archbishop of Cape Town, the most senior position in southern Africa's Anglican hierarchy. In this position he emphasised a consensus-building model of leadership and oversaw the introduction of women priests. Also in 1986, he became president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, resulting in further tours of the continent. After President F. W. de Klerk released the anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 and the pair led negotiations to dissolve apartheid, Tutu assisted as a mediator between rival black factions. After the 1994 general election resulted in a coalition government headed by Mandela, the latter selected Tutu to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses committed by both pro and anti-apartheid groups. Since apartheid's fall, Tutu has campaigned for gay rights and spoken out on a wide range of subjects, among them the Israel-Palestine conflict, his opposition to the Iraq War, and his criticism of South African Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. In 2010, he retired from public life.
Tutu polarised opinion as he rose to notability in the 1970s. White conservatives who supported apartheid despised him, while many white liberals regarded him as too radical; many black radicals accused him of being too moderate and focused on cultivating white goodwill, while Marxist-Leninists criticised his anti-communist stance. He was widely popular among South Africa's black majority, and was internationally praised for his anti-apartheid activism, receiving a range of awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize. He has also compiled several books of his speeches and sermons.
Matthew Parkinson - Rhodes University Aquatic weed and biocontrol database - May 2013
Matthew Parkinson-Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown
The database is primarily the compilation of data from 6 years (since 2008) of field surveys conducted by the Biological Control Unit of the Rhodes University Department of Zoology and Entomology, funded by Working for Water.
The survey focuses on the 5 floating aquatic weeds which are Red water fern (Azolla), Kariba weed (Salvinia molesta), Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), Parrot’s fearther (Myriophyllum aquanticum) and Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes).
Data collected during these national field trips pertain to the species present at a site, the extent of the cover of the water body by each species, the present of the biological control agents and an assessment of general plant health and damage caused by the biological control agents that were present.
The data is useful firstly in documenting where the different weeds occur within the country and the extent to which biological control has been implemented in different regions and secondly contributes toward the long term monitoring and assessment of management strategies that have been implemented for various water bodies.
For more information please see the fact sheets below:
Red water fern (Azolla) -
Kariba weed (Salvinia molesta) -
Water hyacinth(Eichhornia crassipes) -
Parrot’s fearther (Myriophyllum aquanticum) -
Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) -