Grahamstown: Albany Museum, with the Department of Sport, Recreation, and Arts and Culture and Makana Municipality will be hosting the King of AmaXhosa.
Grahamstown: Albany Museum, with the Department of Sport, Recreation, and Arts and Culture and Makana Municipality will be hosting the King of AmaXhosa.
On Wednesday, 9 November, Grahamstown will be visited by the Royal House of AmaXhosa from the Nqadu Kingdom for a special occasion to open the AmaXhosa Kingdom exhibition at the Albany Museum.
King Zwelonke Mpendulo C “Aaah Zwelonke” Sigcawu is the current reigning monarch of the greater nation of AmaXhosa-speaking people of South Africa. He is the 22nd monarch, 10th in the lineage of amaGcaleka from King Phalo Great House. He was crowned on 15 May 2015 by President Jacob Zuma. His coronation was the first after the dawn of democracy in South Africa.
The Executive Mayor of Makana Municipality, Nomhle Gaga will welcome the monarch at 11am on the day at the City Hall. To kick-start the day’s activities, it is expected that different cultural live performances will take place in front of the City Hall to welcome him. The Grahamstown community is invited and afforded an opportunity to make the king feel at home.
To conclude the day, the king will open a new exhibition titled AmaXhosa Kingdom at the History Building of the Albany Museum. This exhibition forms part of a series of Transformation Agenda Exhibitions of the museum. It will be carried out in three phases. The first phase profiles the king, his coronation, family tree, and his tenure of leadership.
The second phase will deal with historical information and references of the past and present. The third phase will be in the form of painted or sculptured information and photos on stained glass.
