Heritage Centre Museum
Community Connections
Connecting people, sharing knowledge, creating opportunities.
At !Khwa ttu, community is at the heart of what we do. Connecting with people, sharing knowledge, and creating meaningful opportunities that make a lasting impact.
Heritage Festival
The Annual !Khwa ttu Heritage Festival is more than just a day of celebration and entertainment. It is an opportunity for people to come together as one to celebrate our diverse cultural heritage. Heritage lies at the heart of our identity and spiritual well-being, with the power to unite communities, foster mutual respect, and strengthen our nation.
Through heritage, we celebrate our shared humanity, educate one another, and deepen our understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures, while displaying the richness of our cultural diversity.
Each year, !Khwa ttu welcomes members of San communities from Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa to participate in the festival. Their presence provides a unique opportunity to celebrate San heritage, share knowledge and traditions, and promote intercultural dialogue, ensuring that this invaluable heritage is preserved and appreciated.
Future Past – We are what remains - 2026.
Futures Past is a partnership project between the French Institute of South Africa, !Khwa ttu (archive) and Open Draft (creative team). These parties will work together to honour the story of San displaced far from their home in Angola by war. It involves reimagining and sharing the Schmidsdrift Linocut Collection as an immersive story. For safeguarding, this collection is held for the South African San Institute (SASI) in the !Khwa ttu archive. With SASI’s agreement and after careful consideration and respect for intellectual property, the creative team will support !Khwa ttu to:
• Digitise and preserve the linocut collection for future generations.
• Reconnect with the San artists.
• Present this sensitive history in a respectful, engaging, and educational way.
• Offer young San people a chance to engage with their history through modern technology.
The immersive experience will speak to the horrors of war and displacement but also to the healing power of art and community. The final work will be exhibited in the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre.
We have always been here – Angola San Exhibition 2025 -2026
In June 2025, the !Khwa ttu Heritage Team had the privilege of travelling to southern Angola. A year later, in July 2026, members of the !Xun San communities of southern Angola, accompanied by representatives of OCADEC, visited !Khwa ttu in a meaningful exchange that strengthened the bonds established during our earlier journey.
With the incredible support of OCADEC an NGO dedicated to community development and food security, we spent time in six !Xun San communities, listening to their stories, learning from their knowledge, and witnessing both the challenges they face and they remarkable resilience.
The Angolan San Exhibition at !Khwa ttu is more than an opportunity to gain experience about the lives and culture of the !Xun San. It is an opportunity to connect and build relationships across borders.
Kuru Art @!Khwa ttu
The Kuru Art Project was established in 1990 as part of the Kuru Development Trust in Dekar, Botswana. Founded in 1985, the Kuru Development Trust began as a grassroots initiative to support San communities living in Dekar, a freehold farm, and was initially established through the efforts of the Dutch Reformed Church.
Through our temporary exhibitions, !Khwa ttu creates opportunities for exchange visits between !Khwa ttu and Dekar, Botswana, fostering meaningful interactions, knowledge sharing, and cultural exchange. These outreach visits have several objectives, including strengthening collaboration with the Kuru Art Project, engaging with the custodian of the Dekar Community Museum, and reconnecting with alumni, long-standing friends, and partners in the Dekar region.
For the past three years, !Khwa ttu has hosted the Kuru Art Exhibition annually in May. The exhibition provides an important platform to showcase artworks produced through the Kuru Art Project, raise awareness of contemporary San artistic expression, and contribute to the project’s financial sustainability through the sale of artworks. Beyond its economic impact, the exhibition strengthens cross-border cultural connections and celebrates the creativity and resilience of San artists from Botswana.
