San Art Interpretive Centre

The San Art Interpretive Centre is located at Didima in the Cathedral Peak Valley in South Africa.

The San Art Interpretive Centre is located at Didima in the Cathedral Peak Valley in South Africa

The Didima San art interpretive centre, provides fascinating insights into the art and culture of the Bushmen and will include static displays and a variety of audio-visual presentations.

The centre within the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife camp at Cathedral Peak, has been established to honour both the past and the global recognition of the Drakensberg as a World Heritage site. The centre includes interpretative cabinets and a San "cave" where visitors can listen to San folktales from the Drakensberg area. The highlight is a beautifully constructed auditorium where visitors view an audio-visual, which draws them into the imagery of the eland and its importance as a religious and supernatural potency.

An important part of the interpretation was due to the work of Frans Prins, a Natal Museum archaeologist and anthropologist. During the last 12 years Frans and other researchers have discovered about 400 descendants of the South Eastern San living partly assimilated amongst Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho-speaking communities.

Foremost among them is a man named Kerrick Ntusi whose traditional knowledge of his forebears has led local archaeologists to challenge the shamanistic approach to interpreting the symbolism of San rock art.

The centre will help focus public attention not only to the quantity of the rock art of the South Eastern San but also the quality and value of this ancient work. The protection of this mountain habitat is vitally important in both biodiversity and cultural heritage. Time and man are taking their toll on the paintings.

If you find Bushmen paintings, please do not touch them or make a fire near them, respect the "last" of the first people who lived in South Africa!