Albany Museum is to host the king of AmaXhosa, King Zwelonke Mpendulo C “Aaah Zwelonke” Sigcawu when he visits Grahamstown tomorrow.
Albany Museum is to host the king of AmaXhosa, King Zwelonke Mpendulo C “Aaah Zwelonke” Sigcawu when he visits Grahamstown tomorrow.
Albany Museum at 160 years old is the second oldest museum in South Africa and the oldest in the Eastern Cape. The museum will host the king in conjunction with the Department of Sport, Recreation, and Arts and Culture and Makana.
The visit by the Royal House of AmaXhosa from the Nqadu Kingdom is the occasion of the opening of 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 the 15 May 2015 by President Jacob Zuma. His coronation is the first after the dawn of democracy in South Africa,” explains Linda Dyani, marketing and communications office at the museum.
The Executive Mayor of Makana Municipality, Nomhle Gaga will welcome the monarch at 11am at the City Hall. To kick-start the day’s activities, different cultural live performances will take place in front of the City Hall.
The Grahamstown community is invited and afforded an opportunity to make the king feel at home. Included in this is the visit by the German delegation who will also arrive at 11am to meet the mayor and the king and thereafter meet with the staff of Albany Museum to share experiences in the field of museums, says Dyani.
“This is part of the twinning programme that the Eastern Cape has with the state of Lower Saxony in Germany. They will arrive tomorrow and leave the following day, having visited some local heritage sites in Grahamstown.”
To conclude the day, the king will open the new AmaXhosa Kingdom exhibition 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.
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