1. Title of the Project:

Revival of Traditional Nama Culture in the Richtersveld

2. Name of the Performing Art:

Nama Dance and Choir

3. Geographic location of the Community:

Richtersveld, Namakwaland Region, Northern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa

4. Introduction of the Performing Art

Deeply rooted in the tradition, their unique music and dance practised by the young and the old is for celebration purposes. The cultural make-up of the Richtersveld is as extraordinary as the botanical diversity of the region. It is also a place where culture increasingly transcends ethnic boundaries - an overall Richtersveld cultural identity is being shaped by people from highly divergent origins blending together into a common "Richtersveld community".

Music and dance forms of the Nama, first mentioned by 17th Century Dutch East India Company expeditions to the northwestern region of South Africa, are also undergoing a renaissance. Contemporary folk music played on modern instruments, principally acoustic guitar and harmonica, and usually sung in Afrikaans, still reflects the rhythm and the tone of the past. These traditions are also tied to the land and reflect ancient ways of pre-Christian worship.

5. Problems the community faced before the launch of the project, and the factors which caused the decline of and threatened the performing art

The Nama people did not practise their own culture in terms of the language, dance and singing. People were shy to practise their own culture and traditions because of the history in South Africa. They were not allowed to speak their own language in schools and were force to learn Afrikaans.

In history, the Nama people were landowners on their land and given hope for the future. After regaining their dignity and their land, they have now the chance to live in the way they want. Lack of funding to teach younger people the dance and the songs to make it sustainable was a big problem. Most of the old generation have already passed away taking the traditional knowledge with them forever. The Western influence also had an impact on the revival of the dance and choirs.

The revival of the culture came from the elderly people of the community, and the focus was to transfer these cultural activities and songs to the younger generation. There are small groups of people who initiated a revival of the Nama Culture. This project is supported by the Richtersveld Traditional Nama Council that united all the Nama people and organisations of the Richtersveld under one umbrella.

With support of external agencies, the Richtersveld local authority is assisting this council with capacity building, empowerment, proposal writing and assistance for implementing a successful project. The external agencies keep in mind that they are assisting and not running the projects or acting on behalf of the Nama people.

6. Details of the project for solving problems of the performing art, especially who and how it started, finance, and involvement of younger generation

The project is one of many supported by the Richtersveld Traditional Council. The revival of the culture came from the elderly of the community, and the focus was to transfer these cultural activities as well as the songs to the younger people. By achieving this it would ensure that the traditions would not be lost when the elderly had passed away.

Several dozen young people are involved in this specific project. The focus of this project, like other similar ones, was mainly on the different schools in Richtersveld. Awareness raising of the Nama culture was the main priority. At the same time Nama language was presented as a subject in schools and it comes together with the revival of the Nama culture.

During the years small amounts of funding from a variety of sources (NGOs as well as Government) supported some of the Nama culture projects, but the current one thatis entering this competition was without funding. The projects mostly survived on the determination of a few elders in each of the four Richtersveld towns to see their culture survive.

7. Influence of the Award on the Community

The contest's result was a great and pleasant surprise for the community and affected them positively. The communities, especially the younger generation, appreciate the prize of the contest, and are proud to be associated with an approach to revitalize and strengthen their culture. Recently, more community people are interested in practising the traditional dance, choir and music. The contest result is evidence that the traditions that were suppressed in the past can now be practised with pride.

This once again makes people all over the world aware of the uniqueness and importance of our culture. Previously, one had to make very much effort to encourage the community people to practise their own culture, and now, it has become spontaneous and they wish to learn about it. Winning the prize proved to the community that their traditions and culture are precious.