"The Pedi homestead usually has two or more huts: a main living-room with a cone-on-cylinder cooking hut and a cone-on-cylinder store or bedroom. The huts are arranged around an open space (lapa) which is the main living area during summer. The entire area is enclosed by a rubble or clay wall, leaving a gateway (kgora)." [Oliver P., 1998: Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World. The Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Africa. Cambridge University Press]. During his trip to South Africa, Elisofon visited Matagwa village, north of Pietersburg (also called Polokwane). This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from January 8, 1947 to end of June 1947.
Local Numbers:
Negative number 24658, C-2A, 32.
General:
Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
Typed index card reads, "T 5 SAF. South Africa. North of Pietersburg, Matagwa village. 3/1947. EE. neg.no. 24658, C-2A, 32." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
"The Pedi homestead usually has two or more huts: a main living-room with a cone-on-cylinder cooking hut and a cone-on-cylinder store or bedroom. The huts are arranged around an open space (lapa) which is the main living area during summer. The entire area is enclosed by a rubble or clay wall, leaving a gateway (kgora)." [Oliver P., 1998: Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World. The Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Africa. Cambridge University Press]. During his trip to South Africa, Elisofon visited Matagwa village, north of Pietersburg (also called Polokwane). This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from January 8, 1947 to end of June 1947.
General:
Title is provided by EEPA staff based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
A contact print exists, number: 1947 24658 R-4,4
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
The collection includes (1,305) 35mm color slides, (325) 35mm color negatives, (331) photographic prints, (3) DVDs and manuscript materials. The images were produced between circa 1970s and 1999 and most depict the Ndebele peoples of South Africa in their kraals (homesteads) making bricks, thatching roofs, and performing other daily activities; architecture, especially homes with painted murals, churches, and schools; and ornamental objects, including leg rings, neck rings, maces, Nyoga (Snake), Pepetu, Jocolo, Linaga, Nguba, Ghabi, Breast Plates, and Scotch. While the majority of the photos document the Ndebele, there are also images of Venda, Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Sotho, Tsonga/Shangaan and Tswana peoples. Ceremonies including the Domba Initiation Dance, a Zulu wedding, and a Swazi Reed Dance are also represented. The photos were primarily taken in South Africa, including in Mpumalanga, Limpopo Province, Delmas, Loskop, and Nebo. Some of the photographs were taken by Zamie Liknaitzky and Norman Priebatsch.
The collection's manuscript materials date from 1977 to 2011 and include exhibition announcements and catalogs, publications, including articles and clippings, correspondence, and research notes. Many of the photos in catalogues were taken by Berna Jersich. The collection also contains three DVDs, Dungamanzi: Stirring Waters, Tsonga and Shangaan Art from Southern Africa, and two that document the exhibition l'Afrique: A Tribute to Maria-Stein-Lessing and Leopold Spiegel (Museum Africa, 2009), which was curated by Knight.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged according to format and is comprised of 5 series:
Series 1: Slides, circa 1977-circa 1983 (1305 items)
Series 2: Negatives, 1970-1999 (325 items)
Series 3: Photographic Prints, circa 1970s-circa 2000s (331 items, Boxes 1-2)
Series 4: DVDs, circa 2007-2009 (3 items, Box 2)
Series 5: Manuscript Materials, 1974-2011 (19 folders, Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Natalie Knight:
Art gallery owner, collector, curator, researcher, writer and art critic Natalie Knight was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and earned a Diploma of Law (1957) and Bachelor of Arts (1974) from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits). After practicing as a lawyer for a short time, she moved her professional focus to art. She founded the Natalie Knight Gallery in Hyde Park (1981-1995), with the opening show Whatever Happened to Pop Art? which featured works by Warhol, Dine, Hamilton and Hockney. In 2007, along with Nessa Leibhammer, Knight curated Dungamanzi/Stirring Waters (Tsonga and Shangaan Art from Southern Africa) at JAG 2007 and l'Afrique: A Tribute to Maria-Stein-Lessing and Leopold Spiegel at Museum Africa in 2009. From December 2008 through 2012, Knight served as Art Curator for the West Campus at Wits University. In 2013 Knight curated the exhibition We Love Mandela: Art Inspired by Madiba, which previewed at the Peacemaker's Museum in Sandton to celebrate Mandela's 95th birthday (July 18, 2013), and (in October 2013) at the South African Embassy in Trafalgar Square, London. In 2014, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts and Culture section from CEO Magazines "Most Influential Women in Business and Government". In 2017 Knight published her Art-O-Biography, The Big Picture, which documents the major events of her professional career.
Suzanne Priebatsch:
A graduate of Smith College (B.A., 1971) and Harvard University (Masters in Theological Studies, 1974), Priebatsch has held such varying positions as volunteer teacher at Clarke School for the Deaf (1967-1971), Assistant Art Librarian at Yale University (Summer 1969), Director of the Hillel Program at Simmons College and Wheelock College (1972-1974), Education Programming and Public Relations Assistant at Johannesburg Art Gallery (1974-1975), Projects Officer at the Art Institute, South Africa (1975-1976), freelance writer, lecturer at University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and Partner of the Economic Planning Group, Boston. She began an investment management career in 1986 and has worked at Smith Barney, now Morgan Stanley, for three decades. She is currently a Senior Vice President, with the title of Senior Investment Management Consultant, at Morgan Stanley.
Natalie Knight and Suzanne Priebatsch earned funding to research Ndebele art in South Africa from the Smithsonian Institution in 1976. Their collaboration produced an exhibition and audiovisual program, Designs of the Ndebele, for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), which toured the United States from 1979 to 1981. Additionally, Knight and Priebatsch have published numerous books and articles, including Ndebele Images (1983), which accompanied the exhibition at the Natalie Knight Gallery, Johannesburg, 1983, Art of the Ndebele: Evolution of a Cultural Identity (Atlanta International Museum, 1998), which was produced for the exhibition at Atlanta International Museum, 1998, and two articles in African Arts: "Traditional Ndebele Beadwork" (1978) and "Ndebele Figurative Art" (1979). Knight and Priebatsch have placed examples of Ndebele and Tsonga/Shangaan art and artifacts in major museums around the world.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Natalie Knight and Suzanne Priebatsch Collection, EEPA 2012-010, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
One drawing of a man in a fiber hat standing next to a stream.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV 11018300
USNM Accession 362993
Separated Materials:
Three hats related to this drawing are held by the Department of Anthropology (Accession Number 362993).
Provenance:
The drawing relates to a collection of fiber hats that were originally donated to the National Museum of African Art in November 1983 and transferred to the Department of Anthropology in November 1984. The drawing was transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives in 1989.
Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection, EEPA 1998-006, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The cataloging of the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection was supported by a grant from The Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The collection depicts the everyday life and architecture of Basotho, Hausa, Makonde, Matabele, Pedi, Swazi, and Xhosa peoples in Nigeria, Southern Africa, and Tanzania.
Content Description:
The collection depicts Basotho, Hausa, Makonde, Matabele, Pedi, Swazi, and Xhosa peoples in Lesotho, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania. Images show agricultural work, architecture, carving, cooking, landscapes, mountains, and portraits, among other subjects. Highlights of the collection include Makonde carvers at work in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Hausa peoples tie dying at indigo dye pits in Kano, Nigeria, and house decorations in South Africa and Lesotho including Bataung houses decorated with stone mosaics.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into series according to geographic location:
Series 1: Nigeria, 1974
Series 2: South Africa, 1970-1975
Series 3: Tanzania, 1974
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. George F. Rohrmann is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Microbiology at Oregon State University. His field of specialization is Virology.
Provenance:
Donated by George Rohrmann in December 2017 and March 2018.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.