Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 1 Vsebina Contents Uvod Preface (Tanja Roženbergar) 3 Slovenski etnografski muzej in projekt SWICH The Slovene ethnographic museum (Bojana Rogelj Škafar) and the SWICH project 4 Obdobje gibanja neuvrščenih The non-aligned movement - priložnost za nastanek afriških zbirk v Sloveniji – a period that provided the opportunities 7 (Marko Frelih, Anja Koren) for the origin of African collections in Slovenia Slovenski Afričani: African Slovenes o njihovih predmetih v prepletu identitet - about their personal objects 24 (Tina Palaić, Bojana Rogelj Škafar) and intertwined identities 2 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 3 Uvod Preface Vključevanje v evropske projekte je za Slovenski etnografski muzej (SEM) Participation in European projects is of outstanding importance for izjemnega pomena. Na ta način preverjamo in nadgrajujemo naše znanje, the Slovene Ethnographic Museum (SEM). These projects enable the museum sooblikujemo nove metode dela, si na mednarodni ravni izmenjujemo to verify and update the acquired knowledge, develop new working methods, muzejske izkušnje in v evropskem okviru kontekstualiziramo dediščino, disseminate the museum’s contents internationally, and contextualize the heritage ki jo hranimo v muzeju. Projekt SWICH pa nam ponuja še dodatne, in our care within the European framework. The SWICH project offers the SEM izjemno aktualne izzive z muzeološkega področja. additional, highly topical challenges from the field of museology. Zunajevropske zbirke, ki poleg materialne in nematerialne dediščine Together with the tangible and intangible heritage of the Slovene ethnic territory, slovenskega etničnega področja predstavljajo celostno the museum’s non-European collections represent its extensive, multifaceted in bogato gradivo muzeja, so v zadnjem obdobju del glasnega holdings. In recent times, they have become involved in an outspoken preizpraševanja o njihovem mestu v muzejih novega tisočletja, re-examination of their place in the museums of the new millennium, tako z vidika muzejske publike in njihovih motivacij in pričakovanj both from the viewpoint of the museum’s public, its motivations and expectations, kot tudi z vidika pridobitve predmetov, uporabe zbirk, as from the viewpoint of the acquisition of objects, the use of collections, njihovega razvoja in dinamike. their development, and dynamics. Raziskovalna in razstavna pozornost Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja v The research and exhibition focus of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum projektu SWICH je usmerjena na afriško gradivo. in the SWICH project is on the African material. The exhibition, entitled Razstava z naslovom Afrika in Slovenija. Preplet ljudi in predmetov, ponuja Africa and Slovenia. A web of people and objects, offers a novel approach, nov pristop, ki vključuje nekatere aktualne težnje v muzeologiji. including current tendencies in museology. Na tak način vodja projekta SWICH v SEM-u, dr. Bojana Rogelj Škafar, In this way, Dr. Bojana Rogelj Škafar, the head of the SWICH project in soavtorji razstave, kustosi dr. Marko Frelih, Tina Palaić in Anja Koren, at the SEM, and the co-curators of the exhibition, Dr. Marko Frelih, Tina Palaić ustvarjajo odprt prostor za sodobno komunikacijo z obravnavano vsebino, and Anja Koren, have created an open space for modern communication njihovimi nosilci in muzejskim gradivom. S tem so oblikovana nova with the exhibition’s contents, their bearers, and the museum material. razumevanja afriške zbirke, ki jo hrani SEM, dodane so nove izkušnje, This has led to a novel understanding of the SEM’s African collection, rezultati in odzivi. Vse to pa nam odpira nova izhodišča adding new experiences, results, and responses. za nadaljevanje dela. And all this provides new openings for continuing our work. dr. Tanja Roženbergar dr. Tanja Roženbergar direktorica director 4 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Etnološki oziroma etnograf- Ethnological or ski muzeji in muzeji sve- Slovenski ethnographic mu- The Slovene tovnih kultur se ukvarjajo z seums and mu- raziskovanjem in predsta- seums of world vljanjem preteklih, sodob- cultures dedicate nih in prihodnjih bivanjskih etnografski themselves to the Ethnographic razsežnosti kultur, narodov, research and pres- družbenih skupin in po- entation of the past, sameznikov. Vedno znova contemporary and preizprašujejo svoje institu- muzej in future existential Museum and cionalno bistvo in ga uteme- dimensions of cul- ljujejo v vsakokratnem druž- tures, peoples, benem kontekstu, čemur social groups, and je namenjen tudi projekt projekt individuals. Time the SWICH SWICH - Sharing a World and time again they of Inclusion, Creativity and re-examine their in- Heritage (1. 10. 2014 – 30. stitutional essence 9. 2018). Sofinancira ga SWICH and substantiate project program Ustvarjalna Evropa it with the current Evropske skupnosti, Slo- social context. And venski etnografski muzej (SEM) pa sodeluje v njem od 11. 3. 2015 skupaj z this is also the intention of the SWICH project - Sharing a World of Inclusion, Crea-devetimi muzeji1. Projekt se s številnimi aktivnostmi v okviru tem Državljanstvo tivity and Heritage (1.10.2014 – 30.9.2018). It is co-funded by the Creative Europe in občutek pripadnosti, Stereokultura: umetnost poslušanja, Povezovanje di-programme of the European Union, and the Slovene Ethnographic Museum (SEM) aspor predmetov in ljudi, Zbiranje (v) prihodnosti, Ustvarjalni dialog in Digitalne has participated in it with nine other museums since March 11, 20152. The project kontaktne cone posveča vprašanjem vizije tovrstnih muzejev v luči sodobne includes numerous activities related to the themes Citizenship and Belonging, Stere-evropske stvarnosti, zaznamovane zlasti z intenzivnimi migracijskimi tokovi. oculture: The Art of Listening, Connecting Diasporas of Objects and Peoples, Col-Slednji vplivajo na pospešeno spreminjanje družbe, na kar se v okviru svojih lecting Futures, Creative Dialogue, and Digital Contact Zones, and it is dedicated to poslanstev vedno bolj odzivajo tudi muzeji. Z dejavnostmi, ki jih organizirajo, the issues of the vision of these museums in the light of the contemporary European ponujajo ljudem možnost, da si poiščejo svoje mesto v družbi in v svetu, ob reality, marked in particular by intense migration flows. The latter contribute to accel-tem pa razvijajo metode in načine dela, s katerimi se prilagajajo potrebam in erate changes in society and as part of their mission museums increasingly respond zahtevam sodobne družbe. V jedru njihovih premislekov ostajajo muzejske to these changes. The activities they organize provide people with an opportunity to zbirke. find a place of their own in society and the world, and in doing so they develop meth- ods and ways of operation to adapt to the needs and requirements of contemporary society. At the heart of their reflections always remain museum collections. 1 Poleg SEM-a je vodilni partner Weltmuseum Wien (Dunaj, Avstrija), partnerji pa so še : Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale 2 In addition to the SEM, the project includes as its leading partner Weltmuseum Wien (Vienna, Austria) and the partners Musée royal (Tervuren, Belgija), National museums of World Culture (Leiden/Amsterdam/Berg-en-Dal, Nizozemska), Musée des Civilisations de de l'Afrique centrale (Tervuren, Belgium), National museums of World Culture (Leiden/Amsterdam/Berg-en-Dal, Netherlands), Musée des l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Marseilles, Francija), National Museums of World Culture (Stockholm/Göteborg, Švedska), Linden-Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée (Marseilles, France), National Museums of World Culture (Stockholm/Göteborg, Sweden), Museum (Stuttgart, Nemčija), Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico »Luigi Pigorini« (Rim, Italija), Museum of Archaeology and Linden-Museum (Stuttgart, Germany), Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico “Luigi Pigorini” (Rome, Italy), Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Cambridge, Velika Britanija) in Museu de cultures del món (Barcelona, Španija). Anthropology (Cambridge, United Kingdom) and Museu de cultures del món (Barcelona, Spain). Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 5 Ustvarjalni dialog je tema, v katero se SEM skupaj z muzeji iz Leidna, Mar- Creative Dialogue is a theme in which the SEM together with museums in Leiden, seillesa in Stockholma vključuje z eksperimentalno razstavo. Vsak muzej je Marseille and Stockholm participates in an experimental exhibition. Each of the mu-zasnoval svoj koncept razstave v dialogu s svojim lokalnim okoljem; v SEM-u seums elaborated its own concept for the exhibition in dialogue with its local environ-smo jo naslovili Afrika in Slovenija. Preplet ljudi in predmetov. Eksperimental-ment, and at the SEM we entitled the exhibition Africa and Slovenia. A web of peo- no v našem primeru pomeni, da se prvikrat lotevamo atraktivno vizualizirane ple and objects. In our case the term “experimental” means that we tackled, for the predstavitve na eni strani slovenskih zbiralcev afriških zbirk, ki jih hrani muzej, first time, an attractive, visualized presentation of, on the one hand, the Slovene col-ter na drugi strani sodelovanja s slovenskimi Afričani, katerih transnacionalne lectors of the African collections in the care of our museum and, on the other hand, identitete spoznavamo ob gledanju video pripovedi o njihovih osebnih pred-the participation of African Slovenes, whose transnational identities we get to know metih kakor tudi skozi kratke zapise njihovih osebnih izkušenj in pogledov na watching the video narrations about their personal objects, and through brief texts teme, kot so: družinska povezava z domovino, prvi stiki z Jugoslavijo, izo-on their personal experiences and views of themes like their family connections with braževanje, organizacije Afričanov, poklicno udejstvovanje, identiteta, kulturna their native countries, the first contacts with Yugoslavia, education, organisations of izmenjava in povezava z domovino. the Africans, professional careers, iden- tity, cultural exchange, and connections Skupna točka obeh delov razstave je with the homeland. gibanje neuvrščenih, ki je večplastno povezalo blokovsko neangažirane in The binding element between the druge nekdanje kolonizirane države. two parts of the exhibition is the Non- Slovenski strokovnjaki so tako zaradi Aligned Movement, which in multifacet- svojih znanj odhajali (tudi) v Afriko in ed ways brought together non-aligned nekateri med njimi so ustvarili zbirke, countries and other, formerly colonized ki jih danes hrani muzej. Na drugi countries. Slovene experts took their strani je bil mladim iz držav članic knowledge and skills to (among others) gibanja s štipendiranjem omogočen Africa, and some of them acquired col- študij v Sloveniji, ki je bila tedaj ena lections that are today in the care of the od šestih republik Socialistične fe- SEM. On the other hand are the (then) derativne republike Jugoslavije. Ne- young people from member states of kateri med njimi, ki so prišli (tudi) iz afriških držav, so v Sloveniji ostali in si tu the movement, who were granted scholarships to study in Slovenia, at the time one ustvarili družine. Vsi so tako ali drugače povezani s prvotnimi domovinami, of the six republics of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. Some of them, kot državljani Slovenije pa s svojim udejstvovanjem ustvarjalno sooblikujejo who came (among others) from African countries, remained in Slovenia and created slovensko družbo. a family here. They are all connected with their native countries in one or another way, and as citizens of Slovenia contribute to Slovene society through their creative activities. Bojana Rogelj Škafar 6 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Ganski predsednik Kwame Nkrumah v Ljubljani. President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana in Ljubljana. (Dokumentacija Muzeja novejše zgodovine (Documentation of the Museum Slovenije) of Contemporary History) Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 7 Obdobje gibanja Marko Frelih, Anja Koren neuvrščenih – priložnost za nastanek afriških The Non-Aligned zbirk v Sloveniji Movement – a Period that provided the Opportunities for the Origin of African collections in Slovenia Množica otrok v pionirskih uniformah čaka na prihod A mass of children in pioneer uniforms, waiting for the ganskega predsednika Kwaneja Nkrumaha pred arrival of the president of Ghana Kwane Nkrumah kavarno Evropa v Ljubljani. in front of Café Evropa. (Documentation of (Dokumentacija Muzeja novejše zgodovine Slovenije) the Museum of Contemporary History) 8 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov V Beogradu je potekala prva konferenca The first conference of the presidents of the member predsednikov držav gibanja neuvrščenih. (Foto: states of the Non-Aligned Movement was held in Miloš Švabić, Dokumentacija Muzeja novejše Belgrade. (Photo: Miloš Švabić, Documentation of the zgodovine Slovenije) Museum of Contemporary History) Politične razmere v svetu so že pred koncem II. svetovne Even before the end of the Second World War, the political conditions vojne kazale, da bo povojna around the world suggested that usoda človeštva odvisna od razmerij the post-war destiny of mankind would dveh nastajajočih ideoloških blokov: depend on the relationship between zahodni kapitalistični blok se je zdru- two emerging ideological blocs: the žil v vojaško-politično zvezo Nato Western capitalist bloc, united in the mil- pod vodstvom Združenih držav Ame- itary-political alliance of NATO under the rike, vzhodni komunistični blok pa je leadership of the USA, and the Eastern med seboj povezal države vzhodne Evrope pod vodstvom Sovjetske zveze v communist bloc, headed by the Soviet Union, which joined the countries of East vojaško zvezo Varšavski pakt. Ideološke razlike obeh blokov so bile prevelike Europe in the military alliance of the Warsaw Pact. The huge ideological differences in med njima se je ustvarila napetost, ki jo je ves svet občutil kot hladno vojno between the two blocs created tensions and the rest of the world experienced them dveh velesil. as the Cold War between the two superpowers. Novonastala povojna država Jugoslavija se je zaradi nevtralne zunanje politike Because of its neutral foreign policy, the newly established, post-war Yugoslavia znašla med Natom in Varšavskim paktom. Zaradi izjemne geostrateške lege je found itself sandwiched between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The country’s cru-bila ves čas v igri interesov med Moskvo in Washingtonom. Jugoslavija je pod cial geostrategic location meant that it was always involved in the conflict of interests vodstvom predsednika Josipa Broza Tita našla rešitev v nevtralni politiki, ki so between Moscow and Washington. Headed by its president Josip Broz Tito, Yugo-jo leta 1955 na konferenci v indonezijskem Bandungu zagovarjale azijske in slavia found a solution in the neutral policy advanced by Asian and African countries, afriške države zaradi dekolonizacije na obeh kontinentih. following the decolonisation on both continents, at the conference in Bandung, In- donesia, in 1955. Šest let kasneje so predstavniki 25 držav vzpostavili mednarodno politično sodelovanje, ki se je v obdobju hladne vojne distanciralo od stroge pripa- Six years later the representatives of 25 countries established international political dnosti vzhodnemu ali zahodnemu bloku. Leta 1961 je pod pokroviteljstvom cooperation and distanced themselves from strict affiliation with the Eastern or West-Jugoslavije med 1. in 6. septembrom v Beogradu potekala prva konferenca ern bloc during the Cold War. Under the leadership of Yugoslavia, the first conference gibanja neuvrščenih držav, ki so ga of the Non-Aligned Movement was held vodili štirje predsedniki: Josip Broz in Belgrade on 1 - 6 September, 1961, Tito, Gamal Abdel Naser iz Egipta, orchestrated by four presidents: Josip Džavaharlal Nehru iz Indije in indo- Broz Tito, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, nezijski predsednik Ahmed Sukarno. Jawaharlal Nehru of India and Ahmed Jugoslavija je s karizmatičnim vodite- Sukarno of Indonesia. Yugoslavia and its ljem Titom uživala visok ugled med charismatic leader Tito enjoyed huge re- neuvrščenimi državami, zato so se spect among the non-aligned countries, ji hitro ponudile ekonomske poveza- and the country was therefore soon of- ve s članicami, predvsem z afriškimi fered economic relations with the mem- državami. ber states, especially the African ones. Predsednik Tito pozdravlja egiptovskega predsednika President Tito welcomes President Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamala Abdela Naserja. (Foto: Miloš Švabić, of Egypt. (Photo: Miloš Švabić, Documentation of the Dokumentacija Muzeja novejše zgodovine Slovenije) Museum of Contemporary History) Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 9 Indonezijski predsednik Ahmed Sukarno in indijski Presidents Sukarno of Indonesia and Jawaharlal Nehru predsednik Džavaharlal Nehru med zasedanjem of India at the Belgrade conference. na konferenci v Beogradu. (Foto: Miloš Švabić, (Photo: Miloš Švabić, Documentation of the Museum Dokumentacija Muzeja novejše zgodovine Slovenije) of Contemporary History) Po več kot pol stoletja mednarodno Half a century later, the international gibanje neuvrščenih še vedno delu- Non-Aligned Movement is still operative, je, čeprav je konec 80. let zapadlo although it fell into a deep crisis towards v hudo krizo, saj se je začel razpad the end of the 1980s, when the dis- Sovjetske zveze, ki ji je sledil še ko- integration of the Soviet Union started, nec Jugoslavije. Na povečanje med- followed by the end of Yugoslavia. Over narodnih konfliktov in na globalne one hundred members of the non- spremembe, ki iz zahoda prenašajo aligned movement advance global po- težišče v azijski prostor, se danes od- litical and economic balance in their re- ziva preko sto članic gibanja neuvrščenih, ki zagovarjajo svetovno politično in sponse to increased international conflicts and the global changes that have moved ekonomsko ravnovesje. the focus from the West to Asia. Slovenija je kot ena od republik nekdanje Jugoslavije izkoristila priložnost in As one of the republics of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia made use of the opportunity razširila delovanje izven države na nova tržišča v Afriki, na Bližnjem vzhodu in and expanded its operations to the new markets in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. v Aziji. During the period of Yugoslavia’s non-aligned policy, Slovenia established close V obdobju jugoslovanske neuvrščene politike je Slovenija ustvarila tesno so- cooperation with several African countries, providing business opportunities and delovanje z afriškimi državami, kjer so zaposlitev našli podjetniki, gradbinci, employment for its businessmen, construction companies, politicians, economists, politiki, ekonomisti, novinarji, kulturniki - ljudje različnih znanj in interesov. Sre-journalists, cultural workers, etc., i.e. people of different profiles and interests. Their čanje z Afriko je na vsakega posameznika različno vplivalo, toda večino je encounters with Africa had a different impact on every individual, but most of them družilo skupno spoznanje: kdor se enkrat ‘dotakne’ Afrike, je nikoli ne pozabi! came to a common insight: “’Taste’ Africa just once and you’ll never forget it!” This is To velja še posebej za ljudi, ki sta jih prevzeli bogata duhovna kultura Afričanov particularly true of the people who were enchanted by the rich spiritual culture of the in ustvarjalna moč obrtnikov in umetnikov. Africans, and the creative power of its artisans and artists. Slovenski etnografski muzej je imel v drugi polovici 20. stoletja izpostavo v In the second half of the 20th century the Slovene Ethnographic Museum had a Goričanah pri Medvodah. Tam so branch in Goričane near Medvode. A bile v nekdanjem baročnem dvor- former baroque mansion housed the cu razstavljene muzejske zbirke ne- museum’s collections of non-European evropskih kultur in organizirane za- cultures and organised interesting the- nimive tematske razstave. Kadar je matic exhibitions. When material from bilo razstavljeno gradivo iz Afrike, so Africa was exhibited, the accompany- v spremljajočem programu pogosto ing programme often involved the co- sodelovali tudi afriški študentje pod operation of African students from the okriljem Zveze afriških študentov, ki African Student Association, founded je bila ustanovljena leta 1969. in 1969. Etiopski cesar Haile Selassie I. je obiskal Slovenijo Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, visited Slovenia leta 1972. Na letališču Brnik ga je pričakal in 1972. At the Brnik Airport he was welcomed by predsednik Tito s soprogo Jovanko. (Dokumentacija President Tito and his wife Jovanka. (Documentation of Muzeja novejše zgodovine Slovenije) the Museum of Contemporary History) 10 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Kustosinja In 1968 curator dr. Pavla Dr. Pavla Štrukelj Štrukelj staged je leta 1968 an exhibition pripravila of the objects razstavo brought from predmetov, ki South Sudan jih je leta 1850 by the Slovene iz južnega missionary Dr. Sudana prinesel Ignacij Knoblehar slovenski in 1850. misijonar (Documentation dr. Ignacij of the Slovene Knoblehar. Ethnographic (Dokumentacija Museum) Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja) Muzej The Museum neevropskih of Non-European kultur v Cultures Goričanah in Goričane Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 11 V baročnem dvorcu Goričane so bili nekoč prostori Muzeja The baroque mansion in Goričane used to house the Museum of Non- neevropskih kultur. (Foto: Marko Frelih, Dokumentacija Slovenskega European Cultures. (Photo: Marko Frelih, Documentation of the Slovene etnografskega muzeja) Ethnographic Museum) Samo tri leta po beograjski konferenci gibanja neuvrščenih držav je bil konec septembra The Museum of Non-European Cultures was founded in the Republic of Slovenia in late 1964 v Sloveniji ustanovljen Muzej neevrop- September 1964, a mere three years after the skih kultur. Kot oddelek Slovenskega etnograf- Belgrade conference of the non-aligned countries. skega muzeja je imel razstavne prostore v baročnem dvorcu Goričane pri Founded as a branch of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, the museum had its Medvodah. Muzej je od samega začetka pritegnil pozornost javnosti, ki je exhibition premises in a baroque mansion in Goričane near Medvode. From the very imela priložnost spoznati različne kulture v obliki stalnih in občasnih razstav. K beginning the museum drew considerable attention from the public, who had the odmevni prepoznavnosti muzeja je veliko prispeval zgodovinski dogodek, saj opportunity to learn about different cultures through permanent and occasional exhi-je leta 1934 v takratnem škofijskem dvorcu potekala pokrajinska konferenca bitions. The recognisability of the museum was particularly enhanced by a historical komunistične partije, na kateri je bil prisoten tudi kasnejši predsednik Jugo-event that took place in the then Diocesan Mansion in 1934: the regional confer- slavije Josip Broz Tito. Povezava z omenjeno konferenco in mednarodnim ence of the Communist Party, attended by the later president of Yugoslavia, Josip gibanjem neuvrščenih je zelo popularizirala podobo muzeja, ki jo je dodatno Broz Tito. The link between this conference and the international Non-Aligned Move-okrepil še osebni obisk predsednika Tita s soprogo Jovanko leta 1967. ment gave the museum a highly popular image, which was additionally strengthened by a personal visit of President Tito and his wife Jovanka in 1967. V obdobju Jugoslavije je bilo veliko ljudi iz Slovenije zaposlenih v tujini in ko so se vrnili, so muzeju darovali ali prodali različne predmete. Po zaslugi direktorja In the period of (the Socialist Federal Republic of) Yugoslavia, many people from Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja, dr. Borisa Kuharja, in kustosinje za ne-Slovenia worked abroad and when they returned home, they often donated or sold evropske kulture, dr. Pavle Štrukelj, se je muzej odzival na medkulturne stike, various objects to the museum. Thanks to Dr. Boris Kuhar, the director of the Slo-ki jih je imela Jugoslavija z drugimi državami v gibanju neuvrščenih. Začelo vene Ethnographic Museum, and Dr. Pavla Štrukelj, the curator of non-European se je sistematično urejanje in publiciranje gradiva, realizirane so bile številne cultures, the museum responded adroitly to the intercultural contacts Yugoslavia had razstave lastnih zbirk. Med njimi so bile tudi neevropske zbirke treh slovenskih with the other countries of the Non-Aligned Movement. The museum started to sys-misijonskih muzejev, ki jih je komunistična oblast po drugi svetovni vojni zaprla tematically arrange and publish material and staged numerous exhibitions of its own in nacionalizirala. collections. Among the latter were the non-European collections of three Slovene missionary museums, which the communist authorities closed down, nationalising Intenzivno je bilo tudi mednarodno sodelovanje, saj je muzej gostil več razstav their holdings, after the Second World War. z vseh koncev sveta. Zelo aktivno sodelovanje z izmenjavo zbirk in razstav pa je potekalo z Muzejem afriške umetnosti, ki so ga odprli v Beogradu leta 1977. International cooperation was quite intensive as well, as the museum hosted several exhibitions from all over the world. Through the exchange of collections and exhibi- Po razpadu Jugoslavije se je muzej znašel v negotovi situaciji zaradi slabega tions, very active cooperation was also established with the Museum of African Art, stanja celotnega stavbnega objekta. Ministrstvo za kulturo je leta 2001 dvorec opened in Belgrade in 1977. vrnilo ljubljanski nadškofiji, ki ga je v celoti obnovila, vendar je že več let zaprt in brez vsakršne funkcije. After the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the museum faced an uncertain fate because the entire building was in a very poor condition. In 2001 the Ministry of Culture re- Vse zbirke nekdanjega Muzeja neevropskih kultur so danes shranjene v pro- turned the mansion to the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, which completely renovated the storih Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja v Ljubljani. building, but it has since been closed for several years and has no function at all. All the collections of the former Museum of Non-Eu- ropean Cultures are today in the care of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana. Direktor Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja dr. Boris Kuhar Dr. Boris Kuhar, the director of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, takes predsedniku Titu razkazuje razstavne prostore Muzeja neevropskih President Tito on a tour of the exhibition premises of the Museum of Non- kultur v Goričanah. (Foto: Edi Šelhaus, Dokumentacija Muzeja novejše European Cultures in Goričane. (Photo: Edi Šelhaus, Documentation of the zgodovine Slovenije) Museum of Contemporary History) 12 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Boris Kuhar Dr. Boris Kuhar v Tunisu. Dr. Boris Kuhar in Tunisia. (Dokumentacija Slovenskega (Documentation of the etnografskega muzeja) Slovene Ethnographic Museum) Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 13 Pomembna osebnost Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja je zagotovo dr. Boris Kuhar, ki je bil med letioma 1962 in 1987 direktor muzeja. Kot Dr. Boris Kuhar, the museum’s director from 1962 to 1987, certainly was an important figure at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. He was employed novinar in urednik je bil zaposlen na televiziji in njegovo zanimanje za as a journalist and editor with the Slovene National Television and his interest filmske reportaže ga je že leta 1961 prvič pripeljalo v Afriko. V naslednjih letih in film reportage took him to Africa for the first time in 1961. In the following years he je obiskal mnoge afriške dežele. Razlogi za to so bili različni: v Senegal je odšel visited many African countries. The reasons for his visits differed: he visited Senegal na 1. festival črnske umetnosti, v Alžiriji se je udeležil vseafriškega kulturnega to attend the first Festival of Black Art; in Algeria he attended the Pan-African Cultural festivala, v Kenijo je organiziral turistična potovanja za slovenske oz. jugoslo-Festival; in Kenya he organised tourist travels for Slovene and Yugoslav tourists, and vanske turiste, kenijska vlada pa ga je angažirala za študijo o vključevanju the Kenyan government engaged him to explore the inclusion of cultural goods in the kulturnih dobrin v turistično ponudbo Kenije, prepotoval je celotno Somalijo country’s tourist assets; he travelled all over Somalia and cooperated in the project in sodeloval pri projektu postavitve Narodnega muzeja, v Centralnoafriški re-of founding its National Museum; in the Central-African Republic he met with the publiki se je srečal z delavci slovenskega podjetja Slovenijales, v Kongu se je workers of the Slovene company Slovenijales; in Congo he attended the Congress udeležil kongresa afriške umetnosti, obiskal pa je tudi Kamerun, Egipt, Tanza-of African Art; and he also visited Cameroon, Egypt, Tanzania, Tunisia, Mauretania, nijo, Tunizijo, Mavretanijo, Maroko, Mali, Sudan, Čad in Etiopijo. Morocco, Mali, Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia. Na potovanju v Kenijo in Senegal se mu je pridružila tudi dr. Pavla Štrukelj, While travelling in Kenya and Senegal he was joined by Dr. Pavla Štrukelj, the curator kustosinja v Muzeju neevropskih kultur v Goričanah. Oba sta iz Afrike prinesla of the Museum of Non-European Cultures in Goričane. They both brought back from tudi več predmetov za muzejsko zbirko. Africa several objects for the museum’s collections. Kuhar je avtor številnih časopisnih člankov o Afriki in različnih strokovnih član- Kuhar wrote many newspaper articles about Africa and authored a variety of profes- kov ter prispevkov za kataloge, ki so izšli ob razstavah Muzeja neevropskih sional articles and contributions for the catalogues that accompanied the exhibitions kultur. at the Museum of Non-European Cultures. S kamero po svetu Travelling the world with a camera Boris Kuhar je sam večkrat dejal, da je bila na potovanjih njegova najboljša Boris Kuhar used to say that his best friend on his travels was his camera, which he prijateljica filmska kamera, s katero je posnel ogromno video materiala. used to film an enormous amount of video material. Za Televizijo Slovenija je pripravil serijo potopisnih oddaj S kamero po svetu, For the Slovene National Television he prepared a series of travel shows entitled s katerimi je slovenski javnosti z osebno izkušnjo predstavil in približal vsak-Travelling the world with a camera; using his first-hand experience, he presented danje življenje Afričanov, njihovo kulturo in lepoto narave, različne dogodke in and introduced the Slovene public to the everyday life of the Africans, their culture zanimivosti, ki so se mu pripetile na potovanjih. Iz njegove serije S kamero po and natural sights, various events and interesting episodes he experienced during svetu je ohranjenih naslednjih osem dokumentarnih filmov: his travels. Eight African documentary films, made by Kuhar for the show Travelling the world with a camera, have been preserved: Ritem Afrike – svet starih in novih simbolov, Ritem Afrike – dva tamtama, The rhythm of Africa – a world of old and new symbols, Ritem Afrike – ljudje z roba Sahare, The rhythm of Africa – two tam-tams, Afrika III – dve podobi Dakarja, The rhythm of Africa – people from the edge of the Sahara, Iz Dakarja do Saint Luisa, Africa III – two images of Dakar, Ljudje ob Indijskem oceanu – skrivnostni otok Lamu, From Dakar to Saint Louis, Kamerun, People at the Indian Ocean – the mysterious Lamu Island, Stara in mlada Afrika – Tanzanija. Cameroon, Old and young Africa – Tanzania. 14 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Anton Petkovšek Obredna maska iz Petkovškove zbirke. Ritual mask from the Petkovšek Collection. (Foto: Marko Habič, Dokumentacija Slovenskega (Photo: Marko Habič, Documentation of the Slovene etnografskega muzeja) Ethnographic Museum) Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 15 Anton Petkovšek je vodil podjetje Slovenia Bois v Centralnoafriški repu- bliki. Podjetje je delovalo pod okriljem Slovenijalesa, med drugim pa Anton Petkovšek managed the Slovenia Bois company in the Central African Republic. It operated under the wings of the Slovenijales company and also so bile vanj vključene tudi tovarne lesnopredelovalne industrije Brest included the woodworking factories of the Brest Cerknica, Novoles Novo Cerknica, Novoles Novo mesto, Lip Bled in Javor Pivka. Obsežni pragozdovi mesto, Lip Bled and Javor Pivka companies. The vast rainforests and their exotic z eksotičnimi vrstami lesa so obetali bogate zaslužke v lesni industriji. Začetki timber promised rich profits to the woodworking industry. The initial operation was so bili zelo uspešni in kazalo je, da gre za obetavno investicijo, ki bo prinašala quite successful and suggested that it was a promising investment, which would dobiček na dolgi rok. Toda zahtevni transporti do oddaljenih obmorskih prista-yield long-term profits. However, the demanding transportation to remote seaside nišč in spremembe na mednarodnem trgu so podjetje postopoma pripeljale ports and changes in the international markets gradually brought the company to the do odločitve, da preneha z izsekavanjem afriškega pragozda. decision to end its exploitation of the African rainforest. Petkovšek je postal leta 1968 konzul Centralnoafriške republike v Ljubljani, Petkovšek was appointed Consul of the Central African Republic in Ljubljana in 1968 kasneje pa še direktor predstavništva Ljubljanske banke v Abidžanu v Slono- and later made manager of the branch office of Ljubljanska Banka in Abidjan, Ivory koščeni obali. Odgovoren je bil za poslovne stike s 24 državami in zato je bil Coast. He was responsible for the business relations with 24 countries and had to pogosto na poti, kjer je spoznaval ra-travel a lot, and this allowed him to learn znovrstnost kultur in slikovito ustvar- about the diversity of cultures and the jalnost afriških umetnikov. striking creativity of African artists. Petkovšek je bil poslovnež in zelo pra- Petkovšek was a businessman and a gmatičen človek, ki je znal ceniti delo very pragmatic person, who appreciat- človeških rok. Bil je velik ljubitelj lesa ed the work of human hands. He was in je znal prepoznati kakovostni rez- a great lover of wood, and was able to barski izdelek. Čarobne podobe mask identify high-quality carved products. in skrivnostni pomen kipov so ga po- He became completely enchanted by polnoma prevzeli in polotila se ga je the magic images of masks and the neustavljiva zbirateljska strast. Pred- mysterious meaning of sculptures, and mete je odkupoval od domačinov in turned into a passionate collector. He njegova hiša je kmalu postala priljub- purchased objects from the locals and ljeno zbirališče umetnikov in trgovcev his house soon became a popular ven- z umetninami. Med bivanjem v Afriki je ue for artists and art traders. During his zbral več kot 400 predmetov in Pet- stay in Africa, he collected around 400 kovškova zbirka zagotovo sodi med objects and the Petkovšek collection is največje neevropske zbirke v Sloveniji. certainly one of the biggest non-Europe- Ustvaril je bogato zbirko mask in ki- Anton Petkovšek (drugi z desne) na sečišču Anton Petkovšek (second from right) at a felling area of Slovenijalesa v pragozdu Centralnoafriške republike. Slovenijales in the rain forest of the Central African Republic. an collections in Slovenia. He gathered pov različnih etničnih skupin zahodne (Dokumentacija Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja) (Documentation of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum) a rich collection of masks and sculp- Afrike, pridobil je več bronastih pred- tures from different ethnic groups of metov, ki posnemajo upodobitve iz ikonografije starodavnega beninskega kra- West Africa, acquiring also several bronze objects, which imitate depictions from the ljestva. Prav tako najdemo v zbirki nekaj lepih kosov tekstila in različnega nakita. iconography of the ancient Benin Kingdom. And his collections also include several exquisite textiles and various pieces of jewellery. Petkovšek je prvotno nameraval predmete obdržati pri sebi in je v domačem Logatcu načrtoval zasebni muzej afriške umetnosti. Toda dolgoletno sodelo- Initially, Petkovšek wanted to keep his objects at home and planned to establish a pri- vanje s Slovenskim etnografskim muzejem, predvsem z direktorjem dr. Bori- vate museum of African art in his native Logatec. However, many years of cooperation som Kuharjem in s kustosinjo dr. Pavlo Štrukelj, ga je vodilo do odločitve, da with the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, especially its director Dr. Boris Kuhar and predmete prepusti omenjenemu muzeju za razstavo v Muzeju neevropskih curator Dr. Pavla Štrukelj, led him to the decision to lend objects to the museum for kultur v Goričanah. Petkovškovi dediči so celotno afriško zbirko leta 1991 its exhibition at the Museum of Non-European cultures in Goričane. His inheritors sold prodali Slovenskemu etnografskemu muzeju. the entire African collection to the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in 1991. 16 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Andrej Jerovšek Vrata kašče z izrezljanimi podobami božanskih Granary door with carved images of divine ancestors prednikov, ki odganjajo tatove. Mali, ljudstvo Dogon, who scare off thieves. Mali, Dogon people, zbirka Andreja Jerovška. (Foto: Marko Habič, Andrej Jerovšek Collection. (Photo: Marko Habič, Dokumentacija Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja) Documentation of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum) Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 17 Od spomladi 2010 je v Slovenskem etnografskem muzeju shranjena tudi zbirka iz Republike Mali s pripadajočo arhivsko dokumentacijo, Since the spring of 2010, the Slovene Ethnographic Museum has housed a collection from the Republic of Mali together with the relevant archive documen-fototeko in s specializirano biblioteko s področja afrikanistike. Zbirko tation, pictorial material and a specialized library on African Studies. The collec- je ustvaril Andrej Jerovšek iz Ljubljane. V Maliju je podjetje Emona-Inženiring tion was created by Andrej Jerovšek from Ljubljana. The Slovene Emona-Inženiring gradilo supermarkete, Jerovšek pa je bil v letih od 1976 do 1984 vodja tega company built supermarkets in Mali and Jerovšek headed the project from 1976 to projekta. 1984. Jerovškova afriška zbirka obsega 224 predmetov, kot so maske, lesene in ko- Jerovšek’s African collection consists of 224 objects, including masks, wooden and vinske skulpture, glasbila, orožje, magični pripomočki, oblačila, različno orodje metal sculptures, musical instruments, weapons, magical aids, textiles and various in predmeti za vsakdanjo rabo. Predmete je zbiral zelo načrtno, saj se je s tools and objects for everyday use. pomočjo literature temeljito seznanil s kulturo Dogonov in Bambara. Prav tako se je posvetoval s strokovnjaki v Bamaku in v Ženevi, kjer je bil član Društva His approach to collecting objects was very systematic, as he informed himself muzeja Barbier-Mueller. thoroughly on the culture of the Dogon and Bambara through the available literature. And he also consulted experts in Bamako and Geneva where he was a member of Aktivno, s strokovnimi prispevki, je deloval tudi na srečanjih in pri objavah the Barbier-Mueller Museum Association. Društva afrikanistov Jugoslavije. Kvalitetno poznavanje afriške umetnosti je Jerovšek najbolje dokazal, ko je pripravil štiri razstave v galeriji Ars v Ljubljani: He was also actively engaged, through professional articles, in the meetings and Umetnost Dogonov (1986) publications of the Yugoslav Association of Africanists. How thoroughly professional Umetnost Bambara (1987) his knowledge of African art was, was exemplified by the four exhibitions he curated Afriške lutke (1988) at the Ars Gallery in Ljubljana: Afriška vrata in ključavnice (1989) The art of the Dogon (1986) The art of the Bambara (1987) African puppets (1988) African doors and locks (1989) 18 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Jože Ham Bakrene uteži v obliki piramid so zlatarji v Gani Pyramid-shaped copper weights were used by uporabljali za tehtanje zlatega prahu. Zbirka goldsmiths in Ghana to weigh gold dust. Jože Ham Jožeta Hama. (Foto: Marko Habič, Dokumentacija Collection. (Photo: Marko Habič, Documentation of the Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja) Slovene Ethnographic Museum) Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 19 Jože Ham je bil med letoma 1974 in 1979 direktor Emona Café Centrafri- que, izpostave ljubljanskega podjetja Emona v Banguiju, glavnem mes- From 1974 to1979, Jože Ham was the manager of the division of the Ljubljana Emona company that was called Emona Café Centrafrique in Bangui, the tu Centralnoafriške republike. Vodil je plantažo kave na približno 115 capital of Central African Republic. He managed a coffee plantation on an hektarjev velikem območju in imel zaposlenih okrog tristo domačinov. Podjetje area of approximately 115 hectares and employed around three hundred locals. The Emona je v zameno za pravico pridobivanja kave sklenilo pogodbo, po kateri Emona company was given the right to grow coffee through a contract that obliged it je bilo zavezano, da v bližini plantaže domačinom zgradijo zdravstveni dom, to build in exchange a medical centre, a school, and a shop close to the plantation. šolo in trgovino. Ham was well acquainted with Anton Petkovšek and they probably together devel- Ham in Anton Petkovšek sta se dobro poznala in verjetno je v tej navezi nas- oped a passion for collecting masterpieces of African artists. Unlike Petkovešk, who tala njuna skupna strast do zbiranja mojstrovin afriških umetnikov. Za razliko was interested in collecting a broad range of objects, Ham focused on collecting ivo-od Petkovška, ki je interes usmeril v širok zbirateljski spekter, se je Ham osre- ry objects from the different peoples living in the area of the present-day Democratic dotočil na zbiranje slonokoščenih izdelkov različnih ljudstev na območju dana- Republic of Congo. However, Ham took systematic collecting one step further, as šnje Demokratične republike Kongo. Toda Ham je od sistematičnega zbiranja he thoroughly studied the literature and issues about the origin of ivory sculptures. naredil še korak naprej, saj se je poglobil v študij literature in problematike iz- He wrote several weighty expertises and his texts reveal his ambition to gradually vora slonokoščene plastike. Lotil se je pisanja resnih ekspertiz in njegovi teksti become a professional researcher of traditional Congolese art. Unfortunately, this kažejo ambicijo, da se postopoma razvije v profesionalnega raziskovalca tra-was not to be, as he died prematurely. dicionalne umetnosti v Kongu. Žal se to ni zgodilo, saj se je njegovo življenje prezgodaj končalo. During his travels in West Africa, Ham acquired a well preserved collection of cop- per weights for weighing gold dust. These weights of different geometric forms are Med potovanji po zahodni Afriki je Ham pridobil dobro ohranjeno zbirko bakre- typical of the Akan ethnic group that lives in Ghana and the eastern part of the Ivory nih uteži za tehtanje zlatega prahu. Uteži različnih geometrijskih oblik so zna- Coast. Ham’s collection of weights is exceptional, both by its number of objects as čilne za etnično skupino Akan, ki živi v Gani in v vzhodnem delu Slonokoščene by their age. It includes 223 weights dating to the 18th and 19th centuries, and obale. Hamova zbirka uteži je izjemna tako po številu predmetov kot po sta- their typology indicates that individual specimens may be older, as they imitate the rosti. Obsega 223 uteži, ki časovno sodijo v obdobje 18. in 19. stoletja, po weights used by merchants in the former Roman provinces of North Africa. Ham’s tipoloških formah pa so posamezni primerki lahko še starejši, saj posnemajo entire collection of weights was presented at the Museum of African Art in Belgrade uteži, ki so jih uporabljali trgovci v nekdanjih rimskih provincah severne Afrike. in 2011, as part of a special exhibition on the weights of the Akan people. Celotna Hamova zbirka uteži je bila leta 2011 predstavljena v Muzeju afriške umetnosti v Beogradu v sklopu posebne razstave o utežeh ljudstva Akan. 20 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Zdenka Žebre Lesen stolček iz Gane sodi med najbolj značilne simbole ljudstva Ašanti, pomeni namreč simbolno Wooden stool from Ghana, one of the most typical symbols of the Ashanti people, representing a symbolic link povezavo s predniki in prvim kraljem Oseijem Tutujem, ki je leta 1701 dobil podoben stolček, prekrit z zlatom, with the ancestors and the first king Osei Tutu, who received a similar golden stool from heaven through the magic iz nebes s pomočjo magije duhovnika Okomfuja Anočija. Zbirka Zdenke Žebre. of the priest Okomfo Anokye in 1701. Zdenka Žebre Collection. (Foto: Marko Frelih, Dokumentacija Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja) (Photo: Marko Frelih, Documentation of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum) Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 21 Vsestransko sodelovanje z afriškimi državami v okviru jugoslovanske zunanje politike je na Slovenskem pustilo sledi tudi na področju lite- Yugoslavia’s foreign policy promoted a wide range of cooperation with African countries and these activities also left traces in the field of literature in Slo- rature, saj so se založbe lotile prevajanja del afriških pisateljev in pe- venia, as publishers commissioned Slovene translations of African writers snikov v slovenščino in njihovega izdajanja. Knjižnim izdajam afriških avtorjev and poets and published them. At the time of these publications of African authors, pa se je sočasno pridružilo vse več knjig slovenskih avtorjev, ki so z različnimi several books by Slovene authors, who travelled to Africa for different reasons and razlogi potovali v Afriko in svoja doživetja objavljali v knjižni obliki. wrote about their experiences in book form, were published as well. Med njimi pripada posebno mesto pisateljici Zdenki Žebre, ki je v Afriko spre- Among them, a special place belongs to the writer Zdenka Žebre, who accompa- mljala svojega soproga, ko je sodeloval pri geoloških raziskavah v Etiopiji in v nied her husband to Africa, where he participated in geological research projects in Gani. Zelo dobro je spoznala obe državi, saj je veliko potovala naokoli in se Ethiopia and Ghana. She became well informed about both countries as she trav-zanimala za življenje domačinov. Predvsem jo je pritegnilo vsakdanje življenje elled around a lot and was interested in the life of the natives. She was particularly na podeželju in kmalu je pozornost usmerila v prisotnost duhovnega izročila attracted by everyday life in the countryside and soon focused on the phenomena prednikov, ki je imelo močan vpliv na posameznika in skupnost. of ancestral spiritual traditions, which strongly influenced both individuals and the community. V Gani se je srečala z legendarnim izročilom o Okomfuju Anočiju, animističnem duhovniku in ustanovitelju države Ašantijev. Lotila se je resnega raziskovalne- In Ghana she met with the legendary traditions connected with Okomfo Anokye, ga dela, iskala vire po knjižnicah in v muzejih ter predvsem zbirala informacije s an animist priest and founder of the Ashanti Kingdom. She engaged in in-depth pomočjo domačinov. Gradivo je leta 1982 objavila v obliki romana z naslovom research, searching for sources in libraries and museums, and above all gathered Okomfu Anoči. Romanu je dodala seznam literature, izčrpen slovar pojmov, information with the help of the natives. She published the collected material in the svoje terenske fotografije in shematske karte. form of a novel entitled “Okomfu Anoči” in 1982. She supplemented the novel with a list of sources, an exhaustive glossary, her own field photographs, and schematic Zdenka Žebre je po vrnitvi v domovino ostala povezana z Afriko tudi s pi- maps. sanjem otroške literature in je bila med prvimi slovenskimi pisateljicami, ki je otrokom pričarala afriški svet iz lastnih izkušenj. After returning home, Zdenka Žebre remained connected with Africa among others by writing children’s literature, and she was among the first Slovene writers, who Z Afriko je bila v stiku tudi zaradi mojstrovin umetnikov in obrtnikov, ki jih je evoked the world of Africa to children from her own experiences. pridobila v Etiopiji in Gani. Zbirka ji je zelo veliko pomenila in sorodniki so leta 2011 uresničili njeno željo ter po njeni smrti vse predmete podarili Slovenske- She also remained connected with Africa through the masterpieces of artists and mu etnografskemu muzeju. craftsmen she had acquired in Ethiopia and Ghana. She was hugely fond of her collection, and in 2011 her relatives honoured her wish that the collection was to be V avtobiografskem romanu z naslovom Se spominjaš Afrike? (2003) je pisa- donated to the Slovene Ethnographic Museum after her death. teljica v dveh stavkih povedala, kako močna je njena nevidna vez z Afriko, čeprav je daleč, daleč proč: »Nikoli več se nista videli. Vendar se nikdar nista In her autobiographic novel, entitled Se spominjaš Afrike? (Do you remember Africa?) druga drugi oddaljili ali odtujili.« (2013), two sentences show how strong her invisible link with Africa was, even though it was far, far away: “The two never met again. But they never drifted away Deset let bivanja v Afriki je bilo zanjo najzadovoljnejše in najpopolnejše ob- or became alienated from one another”. In her own words, the ten years she lived in dobje njenega življenja. »To so bila blagoslovljena leta.« je zapisala pisateljica Africa were the most satisfying and splendid period of her life. “Those were blessed Zdenka Žebre. years”, she wrote. 22 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Željko in/and Nevenka Marija Jeglič Veleposlanik Željko Jeglič na sprejemu pri mozambiškem predsedniku Samoru Machelu Ambassador Željko Jeglič at a reception of President Samora Machel of Mozambique marca 1979. (Dokumentacija Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja) in March 1979. (Documentation of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum) Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 23 Slovenski etnografski muzej ima zanimivo afriško zbirko zakoncev Jeglič, ki je nastala v obdobju med letoma 1978 in 1982, ko je bil Željko Jeglič The Slovene Ethnographic Museum has an interesting African collection gathered by the Jeglič spouses; it was collected in the period from 1978 to 1982, izredni in pooblaščeni veleposlanik v Mozambiku z rezidenco v glavnem when Željko Jeglič was the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to mestu Maputo. Z dvojno akreditacijo je bil hkrati tudi ambasador v Kraljevini Mozambique with his residence in the capital Maputo. Dual accreditation made him Lesoto in v Kraljevini Svazi. Aktivna diplomatska dejavnost mu je omogočila also the ambassador to the Kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland. His diplomatic stik z obsežnim prostorom jugovzhodne Afrike, kjer se je srečal z bogato kul-activities enabled him contacts across the vast area of Southeast Africa, where he turno dediščino. S soprogo Nevenko Marijo sta se hitro navdušila nad moj- became acquainted with the rich cultural heritage. Both he and his wife, Nevenka strovinami afriških umetnikov. Marija, became rapidly enchanted by the masterpieces of African artists. Zakonca Jeglič sta med biva- The Jeglič spouses collected various njem v Mozambiku zbirala različ- objects during their stay in Mozam- ne predmete, največja zaključena bique and the biggest rounded-off celota pa je zbirka lesenih in slo- collection is that of wooden and ivo- nokoščenih glavnikov. Leta 2007 ry combs. They donated the entire sta celotno zbirko glavnikov po- collection of combs to the Slovene darila Slovenskemu etnografske- Ethnographic Museum in 2007, mu muzeju. Istega leta sta muzeju followed in the same year by three podarila tudi tri značilne mozam- typical Mapiko masks from Mozam- biške maske Mapiko. bique. Zanimanje za umetnost ju je pri- Their interest in art brought them in- peljalo v stik s slavnim kiparjem to contact with the famous sculptor Albertom Chissanom in v prija- Alberto Chissano and their friendship teljski zvezi se je porodila ideja, led to the proposal that the artist da bi umetnik obiskal tudi Slove- should visit Slovenia. Chissano vis- nijo. Leta 1981 je Chissano prišel ited Slovenia in 1981 and stayed v Slovenijo in skoraj dva tedna nearly two weeks in Trebnje, Do- ostal v Trebnjem na Dolenjskem, lenjska, where the 14th Gathering of kjer je potekal XIV. Tabor likovnih Naïve Artists of Yugoslavia was held. samorastnikov Jugoslavije. Iz lesa He made a wooden sculpture and je naredil kip z naslovom Prija- Mozambiški umetnik Alberto Chissano s svojim kipom, ki The Mozambican artist Alberto Chissano with the sculpture called it Friendship. During his stay teljstvo. Med bivanjem v Sloveniji sta ga kupila zakonca Jeglič, novembra leta 2015 pa sta bought by the Jegličs, which was donated to the Slovene in Slovenia, Chissano donated three kip podarila Slovenskemu etnografskemu muzeju. Ethnographic Museum in November 2015. je Chissano tri lesene kipe podaril (Foto: Željko Jeglič, Dokumentacija Slovenskega (Photo: Željko Jeglič, Documentation of the Slovene wooden sculptures to the Slovene tudi Slovenskemu etnografskemu etnografskega muzeja) Ethnographic Museum) Ethnographic Museum. In the same muzeju. Istega leta se je Alberto year Alberto Chissano participated in Chissano v Beogradu udeležil mednarodnega umetniškega tekmovanja in za an international art competition in Belgrade and won a first and second prize for his svoje skulpture prejel prvo in drugo nagrado. sculptures. Umetnine mozambiškega kiparja Alberta Chissana (1935 – 1994) so razsta- The works of art of the Mozambique sculptor Alberto Chissano (1935 – 1994) are vljene v številnih muzejih in galerijah po svetu, saj sodi med najbolj znane exhibited in many museums and galleries around the world, as he is one of the best afriške umetnike 20. stoletja. known African artists of the 20th century. 24 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Slovenski Afričani: o njihovih predmetih v prepletu identitet Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 25 African Slovenes - About their personal objects and intertwined identities Tina Palaić, Bojana Rogelj Škafar 26 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Sodelovanje v projektu SWICH je za sodelujoče iz Slovenskega etnograf- skega muzeja pomenilo velik izziv v smislu ustvarjalnega odziva na pro- The staff members of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum who engaged in the SWICH project faced a considerable challenge, both in terms of responding jektne teme kakor tudi z vidika novega vsebinskega in/ali metodološkega creatively to the project’s themes, as well as from the viewpoint of a novel prispevka k muzeju, kakršnega doslej še ni bilo. Sodelovanje s slovenskimi contribution in content and/or methodology to the museum, for which there was no Afričani, kot je bilo zastavljeno in izpeljano, zagotovo pomeni uresničevanje precedent. Our cooperation with the African Slovenes, as it was set out and execut-sodobnih muzejskih usmeritev. ed, certainly was a positive experiment. Najini sogovorniki so prišli iz različnih držav (Gana, Uganda, Zimbabve, Mada- The interviewees were from different native countries (Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, gaskar), kar pomeni, da izhajajo iz različnih družbenopolitičnih kontekstov. Kot and Madagascar), meaning that they came from different socio-political contexts. We njihovo skupno točko sva določili izkušnjo priselitve v nekdanjo Jugoslavijo, in defined as their common feature their move to the former Yugoslavia in the framework sicer v okviru politik štipendiranja tujcev za študij v Jugoslaviji, kar je bil tudi of a policy that granted scholarships to foreigners to study in Yugoslavia, and this was edini kriterij za njihovo povabilo k sodelovanju. K raziskavi sva povabili enajst the sole criterion for inviting them to participate. We invited eleven African Slovenes slovenskih Afričanov; med njimi se jih je pet odzvalo pozitivno. Med poizvedo-for the research, and five of them agreed to participate. While searching for partici- vanjem za sodelujočimi sva pridobili tudi stik s parom, ki se za sodelovanje ni pants, we came into contact with a couple that preferred not to participate, and the odločil, gospa pa je tudi edina ženska, za katero vemo, da je prišla v času Ju-wife was the only woman of whom we know that she came here at the time of the goslavije in sedaj živi v Sloveniji. Tudi ona nas ni usmerila h kateri drugi ženski, former Yugoslavia, and who is now still living in Slovenia. She was not able to point je pa pojasnila, da se je večina žensk, ki so prišle iz afriških držav, po študiju us to any other African woman. In explanation, she said that most women who came vrnila v domovino ali pa so se preselile v katero drugo državo. K sodelovanju here from African countries returned home after their studies or moved to some other v raziskavi sva povabili tiste posameznike, ki so po študiju ostali v Sloveniji in country. We thus invited for participation in the research individuals, who remained in tako s svojimi osebnimi kot poklicnimi potmi soustvarjajo slovensko družbo. Slovenia after studying here, and who have contributed to Slovene society through Vsi sodelujoči v raziskavi so slovenski državljani, ki ohranjajo vezi s prvotno do-their personal lives and professional careers. They are all Slovene citizens, who main- movino, svoj dom pa so našli v Sloveniji in so svojo slovensko identiteto na več tain connections with their native countries, but they have made Slovenia their home, mestih izrazito poudarili. To so zdravnik in piranski župan Peter Bossman, raz- and on several occasions emphasized their Slovene identity. The participants include iskovalec na Urbanističnem inštitutu RS Richard Sendi, glasbenik in arhitekt Peter Bossman, a doctor and the mayor of Piran, Richard Sendi, a researcher with Joseph Rakotorahalahy, upokojeni inženir metalurgije Robert Yebuah ter akti-the Institute of Urban Planning, Robert Yebuah, a retired engineer of metallurgy, Jo- vist in vodja restavracije Skuhna – svetovna kuhinja po slovensko Max Zimani. seph Rakotorahalahy, a musician and architect, and Max Zimani, an activist and the manager of the restaurant Skuhna – world kitchens the Slovene way. Pri sodelovanju s slovenskimi Afričani sva imeli težavo pri uporabi izraza skup- nost. Ta termin je lahko problematičen, saj gre za družbeni konstrukt, povezan In our cooperation with the African Slovenes we faced difficulties with the term com-z odnosi moči. Opredeliti skupnost lahko vodi v vzpostavitev nadzora nad sku- munity. The term may indeed be questionable, as it is a social construct and con- pino posameznikov, ne pa v vodenje procesa soodločanja z nosilci dediščine. nected with power relations. To define a community can lead to establishing control Prav lahko se zgodi, da resnične skupnosti ne le napačno prepoznamo, amover a group of individuals, instead of conducting a process of joint decision-making pak lahko napačno predstavljamo njihove identitete skozi dediščinske proce- with the heritage bearers. And it may occur that we not only misidentify the real se, ki jih kasneje institucionaliziramo. V migracijskih kontekstih kulturne razlike community, but also incorrectly present their identities through the heritage process-pogosto prevzamejo vlogo označevalcev kolektivne identitete. Ko govorimo o es, which are later institutionalized. In migration contexts, cultural differences often kulturi skupnosti, lahko kulturo razumemo v smislu naturaliziranih razlik ali celo assume the role of identifiers of a collective identity. When we refer to the culture skupinske identitete, torej kultura postane orodje za razločevanje človeških of a community, we can understand culture in the sense of naturalized differences, skupnosti in s tem tudi mehanizem za legitimacijo socialnega vključevanja in or even group identities, and culture thus becomes an instrument for differentiating izključevanja. Prav zato sva se pri vzpostavljanju sodelovanja s sogovorniki between human communities, and as such a mechanism to legitimate social inclu-dogovorili, da bomo predstavili zgodbo vsakega posameznika posebej ter po- sion or exclusion. It is for this reason that we agreed with our interviewees that we udarili njihove individualne odločitve, izkušnje in refleksije. would present the story of every individual, emphasizing their individual decisions, experiences and reflections. Meniva, da je zaradi navedenih razlogov nesmiselno in neresnično govoriti o afriški diaspori, saj imamo opravka s posamezniki, ki so jim skupna tri dej- For the reasons stated above, we feel that it would be meaningless and incorrect to stva: njihove prvotne domovine so v Afriki, v Slovenijo so prišli kot štipendisti refer to them as an African diaspora, as we deal with individuals who have three facts Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 27 v določenem obdobju in si tukaj ustvarili družine in se zaposlili. Poimenovati in common: their native countries are in Africa, they came to Slovenia as scholarship jih zgolj kot Afričane, čemur sicer niso oporekali, tudi ni povsem ustrezno, saj holders in a defined period, and they created a family and found employment here ne smemo pozabiti na heterogenost afriškega kontinenta, poleg tega živijo in Slovenia. It would not be entirely correct either to merely call them Africans, as sodelujoči v Sloveniji že več kot trideset let. Najustrezneje bi jih bilo po najinem we should not forget about the heterogeneity of the African continent. Finally, the mnenju imenovati slovenska Ganca, slovenski Malgaš, slovenski Ugandčan in participants have been living in Slovenia for more than three decades. We feel that it slovenski Zimbabvejec. Za namene razstave sva uporabili sintagmo slovenski would be most appropriate to refer to them as two Ghanaian Slovenes, a Malagasy, Afričani. Ugandan and Zimbabwean Slovene. For the purposes of the exhibition we selected the syntagm African Slovenes. Cilj sodelovanja s slovenskimi Afričani je bil skupaj raziskati in na razstavi pri- kazati njihovo osebno dediščino. Pri tem sva se oprli na model sodelovalnega The objective of our cooperation with the African Slovenes was to jointly explore raziskovanja, ki namesto raziskovanja ljudi zagovarja raziskovanje z ljudmi, kar their personal identity, and present it in the exhibition. To this purpose we used the pomeni vključevanje sodelujočih v raziskavi v zastavitev raziskovanja in analizo method of participatory research, which instead of researching people strives to re-raziskovalnih rezultatov. Pomembno nama je bilo, da se muzej vzpostavi kot search people together with them, meaning that the participants in the research are prostor, kjer se lahko sami predstavijo. V raziska-included in the set-up of the research, its methodology, vi sva se osredotočili na predmete, ki so jih najini and research results. What was important to us was to sogovorniki prinesli s sabo bodisi ob prvem priho- let the museum be a place where they could present du v Slovenijo bodisi ob kasnejših obiskih prvotne themselves. In the research we focused on the objects domovine. Prosili sva jih, da izberejo do pet pred- which the interviewees either brought with them when metov, ki bi jih želeli predstaviti obiskovalcem raz- they first came to Slovenia, or at a later time, following a stave. Kriterij izbire je bil, da so zanje pomembni visit to their native country. We asked them to select five zaradi povezave s prvotno domovino, ker se ob njih objects, which they would like to present to the visitors spominjajo kakšnega dogodka ali pa ker preprosto of the exhibition. The selection criterion was that these objects were important to them, because of their con- nosijo sporočilo, ki bi ga želeli deliti z obiskovalci nection with their native country, because they remind muzeja. Izbrali so osebne predmete iz vsakdanje- them of some particular event, or simply because they ga življenja, ki jih lahko razvrstimo v tri kategorije. V carry a message they want to convey to the museum’s prvo sodijo predmeti, ob katerih so govorili o svo- visitors. They chose personal objects from everyday jem otroštvu in reflektirali odnose s svojimi sorodniki life and these can be divided into three groups. The v prvotnih domovinah; v drugo sodijo tisti predmeti, first group consists of objects that inspired them to talk s pomočjo katerih v slovenskem prostoru v različ- about their childhood and reflect on the relations with nih situacijah izražajo svojo transnacionalno iden- their relatives in their native country; the second one titeto; v tretjo kategorijo pa uvrščava predmete, s consist of objects which in various situations help them pomočjo katerih reflektirajo svoje vrednote in ideje, to express their transnational identity in the Slovene ar- tudi politične, ter predstavljajo svoji kulturo in prvotno domovino. Pri izbranih ea; and the third group are objects which help them to reflect on their values and predmetih je težko potegniti ostre ločnice med navedenimi kategorijami, zato ideas, including political ones, and which represent their culture and native country. so le analitsko orodje za lažje razumevanje pričevalnosti predmetov. There are, however, no rigid dividing lines between these groups, as they are merely an analytical tool to make it easier to understand the expressiveness of the objects. Vsakdanje predmete slovenskih Afričanov razumeva kot muzealne predme- te, saj predstavljajo njihovo dediščino, skoznje so opredmetili svoj spomin ter We consider these everyday objects of the African Slovenes to be museum objects, predvsem razumevanje sebe in svojih izkušenj. Zanje so ti predmeti tako ali as they represent their heritage, and it is through them that they materialise their drugače temelj njihovih identitet; z njihovo pomočjo jih tudi pogosto izražajo. memory and in particular their self-understanding and experiences. To them, these V nadaljevanju najprej vsakega od sodelujočih na kratko predstaviva, nato pa objects represent the foundations of their identity in one or another way, and it is skozi njihove pripovedi predstaviva še njihove osebne predmete. through them that they often express that identity. We will now briefly introduce each of the participants and then present their personal objects through their stories. Vse fotografije v tem prispevku: Aleš Verbič. All photos in this article by Aleš Verbič. 28 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Max Zimani Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 29 Max Zimani se je rodil v času, ko je bil Zimbabve še britanska kolonija. Njegov oče je bil šolski ravnatelj, kasneje je postal šolski inšpektor, Max Zimani was born at a time when Zimbabwe was still a British colony. His father was a headmaster, who later became a school inspector, re- ki je nadziral ravnatelje, njegova mati je do upokojitve učila. Po kon- sponsible for supervising headmasters, and his mother was a teacher čani srednji šoli je konec leta 1981 vložil prošnjo za štipendijo za študij v večih until she retired. After completing secondary school he filed an application for a državah: v Jugoslaviji, Rusiji, Franciji in Veliki Britaniji. Odločil se je za študij v scholarship with several countries in late 1981: Yugoslavia, Russia, France, and the Jugoslaviji, o kateri je imel zelo pozitivno predstavo. United Kingdom. He then decided to study in Yugoslavia as he had a very positive opinion about the country. V Slovenijo je prišel leta 1982 in se najprej v Mariboru učil slovenščine. Po enem letu se je preselil v Ljubljano, kjer je doštudiral računalništvo. Že med študijem je He arrived in Slovenia in 1982 and first went to Maribor to learn Slovene. A year later spoznal, da je bilo splošno znanje o Afriki zelo površin-he moved to Ljubljana, where he graduated in computer science. During his stud- sko. Politične debate ljudi niso zanimale, prav tako pa ies he became aware that the general public’s knowledge about Africa was very je izkusil diskriminacijo. Vse to ga je spodbudilo, da se superficial. People were not interested in political debates, and he also experienced je pričel aktivneje vključevati v družbo. Leta 1983 se je discrimination. All this stimulated him to become a more active member of society. pridružil Zvezi afriških študentov, kjer je sprva deloval v He joined the African Student Association in 1983 and initially worked in the cultural kulturni sekciji, kasneje pa je postal predsednik Zveze. section, to later become the chairman of the association. He endeavoured to for-Zavzemal se je za formalizacijo njenih odnosov z drža- malize the association’s relationship with the state, and dedicated attention to the vo, pozornost pa je posvečal tudi statusu in razmeram status and living conditions of the foreign students in Slovenia. He later continued tujih študentov v Sloveniji. Z aktivističnim delovanjem his efforts as an activist in the African Student Society. The objective of the society’s je nadaljeval tudi v Društvu afriških študentov, katerega activities was to connect people and offer them a venue for discussion and getting cilj je bil povezati ljudi in jim ponuditi prostor za diskusijo to know one another. Participating in these activities, people had an opportunity to in medsebojno spoznavanje. Z udeležbo na njihovih aktivnostih so imeli ljudje learn about a different perspective of Africa. priložnost spoznati drugačno perspektivo Afrike. His vision is to create a more balanced environment and he sought to realize this vi- Njegova vizija je ustvariti bolj uravnoteženo okolje, kar je poskušal uresničiti sion among others with the foundation of the restaurant Skuhna – world kitchens the tudi z ustanovitvijo Skuhne – svetovne kuhinje po slovensko. Restavracija je Slovene way. Today the restaurant is a social enterprise that increases the employ-danes socialno podjetje, ki povečuje ability of migrants from Africa, Asia and zaposljivost migrantov iz Afrike, Azi- South America. To Max, Skuhna is not je in Južne Amerike. Skuhna zanj ni just a project, but a way of living. samo projekt, temveč način življenja. Max Zimani has two homes: one where Max Zimani ima dva doma, eden je he lives with his family, and a second tam, kjer živi z družino, drugi je v Che- one in Chegutu, Zimbabwe, where his gutu v Zimbabveju, kjer živita njegova parents live. For the exhibition he chose starša. Za razstavo je izbral semena moringa seeds, which inspired him to moringe, ob katerih je pripovedoval o talk about his relationship with his moth- svojem odnosu z mamo. Ta je nedav- er. She recently fell ill and that is when no zbolela in takrat so ga začele zani- he became interested in alternative mati alternativne oblike zdravljenja. V healing methods. In Zimbabwe people Zimbabveju so pričeli govoriti o zdra- talked about the healing properties of vilnih lastnostih drevesa moringa, ki the moringa tree, and he studied them jih je ob materini bolezni preučil tudi himself because of his mother’s illness: sam: »Ugotovili smo, da se dejansko “We found out that you can use practi- pri moringi skoraj vse uporablja, naj cally every bit of a moringa, whether for bo za čaj, za špinačo ali celo za olje. making tea, as spinach, of even for oil. Moringa je zame znak moči narave.« To me, the moringa tree symbolizes the 30 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Semena moringe je nedavno prinesel power of nature.” He brought the mo- iz Zimbabveja. ringa seeds from Zimbabwe during a recent visit. Traktor, ki ga je spomnil na ustvar- jalno otroštvo, je Max Zimani kupil v Max Zimani bought the tractor that re- Zimbabveju poleti 2016, ko je bil tam minds him of his creative childhood in z družino na obisku: »Kot otroci smo Zimbabwe in the summer of 2016, izdelovali takšne traktorje in se z nji- when he visited the country with his fam- mi igrali, kar v Zimbabveju počno tudi ily: “As children we made such tractors danes. To ne pomeni, da v trgovinah and played with them, and that’s what ni igrač, da bi jih kupili, ampak da so children still do in Zimbabwe today. That otroci ustvarjalni in iz različnih mate- doesn’t mean that there are no toys to rialov sami izdelujejo, kar jim je všeč. be bought in the shops, but that the Prav ta ustvarjalnost je tista, ki me children are creative and prefer to make navdušuje in me spominja na mojo the things they like from different mate- mladost.« rials. It is that creativity that delights me and reminds me of my youth.” Glasba je pomemben del njegove- ga življenja. Igra djembe, prav tako Music is an important part of Max Zim- pa je član pevskega zbora Sankofa, ani’s life. He plays the djembe and he ki združuje Afričane, njihove potom- is also a member of the Sankofa choir, ce in prijatelje. Za razstavo je izbral which includes Africans, their children glasbena inštrumenta mbiro in osho, and friends. For the exhibition he select- ki sta v Zimbabveju nepogrešljiva pri ed the musical instruments mbira and igranju na porokah ter ob rojstvu in osho, which are indispensable in Zimba- smrti, uporabljata pa se tudi v etno bwe when playing at a wedding, birth, or glasbi. »To glasbo obožujem. Gre za death, and they are also used in ethno- glasbo, ki je povezana s tradicijo. Be- music. “I really love this music. It is music sedila večkrat vključujejo tradicional- connected with our traditions. The lyrics na sporočila, zgodovinske pripovedi often include traditional messages, his- in druge zgodbe. Gre za močan del torical accounts, and other stories. It is a moje zapuščine.« powerful part of my legacy.” Za razstavo je izbral obesek za klju- Another item Max Zimani chose for the če, ki predstavlja Nyami Nyami, bo- exhibition is a keychain that represents ga ljudstva Tonga iz severnega Zim- Nyami Nyami, a god of the Tonga people babveja in južne Zambije, ki je imel from North Zimbabwe and South Zam- glavo ribe in telo kače, živel pa je v bia, which has a fish head and a snake reki Zambezi. Federalna vlada takra- body, and used to live in the Zambe- tne Rodezije in Nyasalanda (današnji zi River. The federal government of the Zambija, Zimbabve in Malavi) je leta former Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now 1955 za gradnjo jezu na reki Zambezi Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi) select- izbrala italijanski konzorcij Impresit. ed the Italian consortium Impresit to build Jez so začeli graditi leta 1956. Max a dam on the Zambezi in 1955. The Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 31 Zimani je povedal: »Ko so ga zače- construction of the dam was started in li graditi, so jih Tonge opozorili, da 1956. Max Zimani has this story about it: bodo imeli težave, saj so zmotili do- “When they started the construction, the movanje boga in ga ločili od njegove Tonga warned them that they would run žene. Res so sledile hude poplave, into difficulties, because they disturbed umrlo je tudi nekaj Evropejcev. Njiho- the home of the god and separated him vih trupel niso mogli najti. Za pomoč from his wife. And there were indeed se- so prosili ljudstvo Tonga. Ti so sveto- vere floods and several Europeans died. vali žrtvovanje teleta, ki so ga morali But they couldn’t find their bodies. And vreči v reko. Teleta naslednje jutro ni so they asked the Tonga to help them. bilo, telesa mrtvih Evropejcev pa so The Tonga advised them to sacrifice a se pojavila prav na mestu, kjer so v calf and throw it in the river. The next vodo vrgli tele. Po tem so koloniza- morning the calf was gone and the bod- torji nadaljevali z gradnjo jezu, ki še ies of the dead Europeans appeared at danes zagotavlja elektriko Zimbab- the very spot where the calf was thrown veju in Zambiji. Ta obesek je zame in the river. The colonists then continued zelo pomemben, saj predstavlja del the construction of the dam and today afriške oziroma zimbabvejske tradici- it still supplies power to Zimbabwe and je, kulture, religije, ki je še vedno ne- Zambia. This keychain is very important dotaknjena. Evropski imperializem jih to me as it represents a part of the Af- ni pogoltnil.« Obesek je kupil, ko je z rican or Zimbabwean traditions, culture, družino obiskal omenjeni jez. and religion that is still intact. European imperialism did not swallow them.” Max Ob sadežu baobaba je predstavil Zimani bought the keychain when he eno od zgodb o tem drevesu, ki mu visited the dam with his family. je najljubša in jo pogosto pripovedu- je: »Nekoč je bil baobab edino drevo The baobab fruit inspired Max Zimani to na svetu, nakar so začela okoli nje- tell us the story about the tree that he ga rasti druga drevesa. Vsakič, ko je likes most and often tells: “Once upon zrastlo kakšno drevo, je bil baobab a time the baobab was the only tree in jezen, češ da ima tisto drevo ali listje, the world and then other trees started ali sadeže, ali pa karkoli že lepše od to grow around it. Every time a new tree njega. Ko so imeli bogovi dovolj, so grew, the baobab was angry, complain- prišli nazaj na zemljo, ga izruvali in ga ing that it had leaves or fruits or whatever postavili na glavo. Zato danes tako that was more beautiful than itself. When zgleda.« the gods got fed up with it, they returned to Earth, uprooted the baobab and re- planted it upside down. That’s why to- day it looks the way it does.” 32 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Joseph Rakotorahalahy Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 33 Joseph Rakotorahalahy se je rodil nekaj let pred osamosvojitvijo Madaga- skarja izpod francoske kolonialne oblasti. Njegov oče je bil gradbeni in- Joseph Rakotorahalahy was born a few years before Madagascar’s independ- ence from French colonial rule. His father was a civil engineer and his mother ženir, njegova mama pa se je kasneje ukvarjala s šiviljstvom. Na Mada- later had a sewing business. He studied civil engineering in Madagascar for gaskarju je že dve leti študiral gradbeništvo in dobil tudi štipendijo za študij na two years and was granted a scholarship to study at the Arts et Métiers high school Arts et Métiers, najvišji šoli za arhitekturo v Parizu. Ker pa je bila v tistem času in Paris. But as there was a lot of corruption in the country at that time, he was de-tam velika korupcija, mu študij v Parizu ni bil omogočen, ampak so ga poslali prived of the chance to study in Paris, and was instead sent to Ljubljana. v Ljubljano. He arrived in Yugoslavia in 1977 and easily passed the entrance exams for architec- V Jugoslavijo je prišel leta 1977 in v Ljubljani brez težav opravil sprejemne izpi- ture in Ljubljana. During his undergraduate and doctoral studies he mainly focused te na arhitekturi. Na dodiplomskem in tudi na doktorskem študiju se je ukvarjal on the Žiče Charterhouse, the former Carthusian monastery near Slovenske Konjice, zlasti z Žičko kartuzijo, to je nekdanji kartuzijanski samostan poleg Slovenskih as he was highly interested in the spirituality in architecture. While a student, he was Konjic, saj ga je zelo zanimala duhovnost v arhitekturi. Med študijem je bil ak-also active in the African Student Association, where he played music on several oc- tiven tudi v Zvezi afriških študentov, kjer je ob večih priložnostih igral glasbo. casions. And he also often played in the streets of Ljubljana. Especially after passing Pogosto je igral tudi na ljubljanskih ulicah. Še posebej takrat, ko je opravil izpit an exam at the faculty, when he wished to share his joy and culture in this way. As na fakulteti, je na tak način delil svoje veselje in svojo kulturo. Poleg tega je že v the student he also held many lectures on Madagascar and presented its culture, študentskih časih veliko predaval o Madagaskarju in predstavljal svojo kulturo, and he continued to do so later. s čimer je nadaljeval tudi kasneje. Joseph Rakotorahalahy adheres to seven rules in life: be honest, sincere, brave, de- Sam v življenju spoštuje sedem pravil: bodi pošten, iskren, pogumen, odločen, termined, without prejudices, master the rhythm, and have a sane mind in a healthy brez predsodkov, obvladaj ritem, imej zdrav duh v zdravem telesu. Kamorkoli body. Wherever he goes, he puts these seven rules in first place. If you adhere to gre, teh sedem pravil postavi na prvo mesto. Kdor jih upošteva, pravi, lahko them, you can live anywhere in the world, but you should never forget about your živi kjerkoli na svetu, a pri tem ne sme pozabiti svojih korenin. roots. Joseph Rakotorahalahy je govoril o svojem tesnem odnosu z mamo, ki ji je Joseph Rakotorahalahy told us about his close relationship with his mother; after his po očetovi smrti kot mlad fant pomagal vzdrževati družino. Nanjo ga spomi-father’s death he helped her to provide for the family as a young lad. He is reminded njata dve leseni torbici, ki ju je kupil of her by the two wooden handbags he pred nekaj leti. »Z mamo sem imel bought a couple of years ago. “I had a zelo trden odnos, zato gre za pose- very close relationship with my mother, ben spomin nanjo. Moja mama je ves and they remind me strongly of her. She čas šivala in je vedno ustvarjala nekaj was sewing all the time and always cre- novega. Še danes, ko gre iz hiše, se ating something new. Even today, every vedno obleče kot kraljica. Zelo dob- time she leaves the house, she dresses ro se zna urediti, tako da na ulici vsi like a queen. She takes great care of her gledajo njene obleke. Pogosto nosi appearance and everybody in the street tudi klobuk in torba mora biti vedno looks at her dress. She also often wears skladna z njim. Ti torbici me ved- a hat and her handbag must match it. no spomnita na njo. Ko vidim njene These handbags always remind me of predmete ali slike, se počutim, kot da her. When I see her objects or pictures, je mama blizu mene.« I feel as if she is close to me.” Med počitnicami je pogosto bival pri During the school holidays he often lived babici in dedku, ki sta imela opekar- with his grandma and grandpa, who no. Tam je z otroki pri dedku in pri owned a brickworks. He played with njem zaposlenih delavcih oblikoval hi- the children of his grandpa’s workers, ške iz gline. Eno takšnih, ki prikazuje making little clay houses. A cousin gave 34 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov tradicionalno malgaško hišo in ga him such a house, which imitates a spominja na otroštvo, mu je za rojstni traditional Malagasy house, for his birth- dan podaril bratranec: »To je zame day: “This is one of the nicest presents eno najlepših daril do sedaj. Ker sem I have ever been given. Because I’m an arhitekt. Moj bratranec se je namučil, architect. My cousin put in a lot of effort, ker je hotel pokazati, da moram kot because he wanted to show me that arhitekt to malgaško arhitekturo imeti as an architect I should always have this ves čas ob sebi. Hkrati gre za upo- example of Malagasy architecture near raben predmet, ker je mogoče noter me. It is also a useful object, because dati žarnico in deluje kot nočna luč- you put a light bulb in it and use it as a ka. Obenem pa mi pomeni prisotnost night light. At the same time it means moje kulture, daje mi občutek, da so to me that my culture is present here ob meni moji domači.« and that makes me feel that my family is with me.” Joseph Rakotorahalahy se je z glas- bo ukvarjal že na Madagaskarju, kjer Joseph Rakotorahalahy was very much je pred prihodom v Jugoslavijo med into music while he was in Madagascar, letoma 1972 in 1977 posnel sedem and before he left for Yugoslavia he re- malih vinilnih plošč (singlic). V Slo- leased seven singles between 1972 in veniji je posnel zgoščenko šele leta 1977. In Slovenia he recorded a CS in 1998, saj je ob odhodu v Jugoslavijo 1998, because of a quite particular ad- dobil posebno popotnico: »Mama mi monition when he left for Yugoslavia: “My je pred odhodom rekla, da se moram mum told me before I left that I should popolnoma posvetiti študiju in da se ne smem komercialno ukvarjati z glas- dedicate myself entirely to my studies and that I should not engage in music com- bo. Ko sem diplomiral, pa sem zanjo posnel cd. S celo družino sem šel leta mercially. When I graduated I recorded this CD for her. And when I visited Mada-2000 na Madagaskar in ji nesel cd kot dokaz, da sem držal obljubo. Meni pa gascar with my family in 2000, I presented her with this CD as proof that I had kept je cd pomenil možnost, da sem kot my promise. To me, this CD provided glasbenik pokazal svoje delo, da sem an opportunity to show my work as a lahko delil svoja čustva, svoje domo- musician, to share my feelings and my tožje.« homesickness.” Vsakič, ko obišče Madagaskar, Jo- Whenever he visits Madagascar, Jo- seph Rakotorahalahy s seboj prinese seph Rakotorahalahy brings back to značilno malgaško igro, imenova- Slovenia a typical Malagasy game, no Jeu Solitaire (Igra za enega). »To called Jeu Solitaire (Game for One). “It’s je igra, ki jo igra ena sama oseba. a game played by a single person. First Najprej damo v luknjice na plošči kro- we put these stones in the holes in the glice, ki so zelo dragocene, saj so iz- board. The stones are very precious as delane iz različnih kamnin in minera- they are made of various rocks and min- lov. Cilj igre je, da pobereš iz plošče erals. The goal of the game is that you vse kroglice razen ene, ki ostane na remove all the stones from the board, koncu. S to igro igralec vadi svojo except one that is left in the end. I play it potrpežljivost, vztrajnost in tudi stra- also as a kind of brain massage. Every teško razmišljanje. Jaz jo igram tudi time I go to Madagascar I buy a cou- za masažo možganov. Vsakič, ko ple of games and give them to friends Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 35 grem na Madagaskar, jih nekaj kupim in Slovenia.” The game he chose for the in podarim prijateljem v Sloveniji.« Za exhibition is the one he uses himself. razstavo je izbral tisto, ki jo uporablja sam. The two pens, which can be bought as tourist souvenirs, remind him of his Pisali, ki ju je mogoče kupiti tudi kot youth and education, and they repre- turistični spominek, ga spominjata sent the exceptional funeral art of the na njegovo mladost in izobraževa- Mahafaly people of Madagascar. “The nje, predstavljata pa tudi izjemno Mahafaly people use family tombs, pogrebno umetnost ljudstva Maha- which are often under the ground, and faly iz Madagaskarja. »Ljudstvo Ma- they mark them with sculptures called hafaly pozna družinske grobnice, ki alo alo. These are wooden tombstones so pogosto pod zemljo, označujejo with different geometric patterns de- pa jih skulpture, imenovane alo alo. signs. The outstanding feature of such Gre za lesene a tombstone is that it features a sym- nagrobnike z bolic object at the top, referring to the različnimi ge- deceased’s occupation. If he was, for ometričnimi instance, a very good football player, a vzorci. Po- little football carved from wood would sebnost tega be used. The tombstone represents n a g ro b n i k a the juncture between the living and the je, da je na dead.” vrhu simbolni predmet, ki pove, kaj je bil pokopani po poklicu. Če je bil na primer dober nogometaš, lahko upo- rabijo tudi nogometno žogo, izrezlja- no iz lesa. Nagrobnik pomeni pove- zavo med živimi in mrtvimi.« 36 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Peter Bossman Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 37 Peter Bossman se je rodil v Gani, ko je bila ta še britanska kolonija. Nje- gov oče je bil zdravnik in diplomat. Oblikoval je njegovo razmišljanje Peter Bossman was born in Ghana when the country was still a British colony. His father was a doctor and diplomat. He shaped his son’s attitude to politics o politiki in njegovo željo pomagati čim večim ljudem. Odločilen je bil and his wish to help as many people as possible. And he played a decisive tudi v situaciji, ko je Bossman leta 1977 moral zapustiti Gano. Takrat je bi- role when Peter had to leave Ghana in 1977. At the time the country was ruled by la na oblasti vojaška hunta, ki ji je nasprotoval. Na Univerzi v Akri, kjer je a military dictatorship and Peter agitated against it. At the University of Accra, where študiral biologijo, je bil del skupine aktivnih študentov, s katerimi so večkrat he studied biology, he belonged to a group of activist students, who on several demonstrativno zaprli kampus s predavalnicami in študentski-occasions closed down the campus, its lecture and residence halls. mi domovi. Njegov oče je bil obveščen, da je na seznamu za His father was told that Peter was on a list of people to be arrested. aretacijo. Bossman je sicer že zaprosil za štipendijo za študij v Peter had already filed an application for a scholarship to study in the Angliji, ker pa se je mudilo, je izbral hitrejšo opcijo in tako prišel United Kingdom, but as things were heating up, he opted for a faster v Jugoslavijo. solution and left for Yugoslavia. Odločil se je za študij medicine, za katerega pa je moral opraviti He decided to study medicine but first had to pass an entrance exam sprejemni izpit v slovenščini. Zavod SR Slovenije za mednaro- in Slovene. ZAMTES (The Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for in- dno znanstveno, tehnično, prosvetno in kulturno sodelovanje ternational scientific, technical, educational and cultural cooperation), (ZAMTES), ki je štipendiral in skrbel za tuje študente, je finan- which granted scholarships and was responsible for the care of for- ciral pomoč študenta za njegovo pripravo na sprejemni izpit, eign students, funded a tutor to assist him in his preparations for the ki ga je uspešno opravil. Že v prvem letniku se je pridružil Zvezi afriških štu- entrance exam, which he then passed successfully. During his first academic year he dentov, kjer mu je bilo najpomembneje, da se afriški študentje organizirajo in joined the African Student Association, where he focused on organizing the African pričnejo ljudi izobraževati o državah in kulturah, iz katerih so prišli. students and have them introduce the Slovenes to their native countries and cultures. Njegova prva služba je bila v turistični ambulanti v Luciji, kjer so potrebovali His first employment was with a surgery for tourists in Lucija, where they needed zdravnika za poletne mesece. Tam se je prvič srečal z odvisniki iz tujine, kmalu a doctor during the summer months. It was there that he first encountered drug pa je spoznal, da je to velik problem addicts from abroad, and he soon saw tudi pri mladih v domačem okolju. Ker that it was a huge problem among the se v Sloveniji takrat s to problematiko youths in the domestic environment as ni ukvarjal nihče, je informacije o od- well. Since nobody in Slovenia dealt with visnosti in možnostih zdravljenja pri- the issues at the time, Peter Bossman dobil v tujini. Zasnoval je metadonski acquired information on addiction and program, po katerem so začeli siste- treatment options abroad. He set up a matično delati s tamkajšnjimi odvis- methadone programme and started to niki. Poleg uspešne kariere zdravnika treat the local addicts systematically. In že drugi mandat opravlja tudi delo addition to his successful career as a župana Občine Piran. doctor, he is now serving his second term as the mayor of Piran. Peter Bossman je za razstavo izbral lesen podstavek, ki mu ga je ob od- For the exhibition Peter Bossman chose hodu iz Gane podaril stric z name- a wooden base given to him by an un- nom, da ne bi pozabil svojih sorodni- cle when he left Ghana with the inten- kov. Podstavek je umetelno izrezljan tion that he should not forget about his iz enega kosa lesa, izdelan pa je bil v relatives. The base is artistically carved 19. stoletju. »Pri nas družina ni samo from a single piece of wood and was ožja družina, ampak vanjo spadajo made in the 19th century. “In Ghana a tudi strici, tete, bratranci, sestrične. family is not just the immediate family but 38 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Kadarkoli je treba rešiti kakšen pro- includes also uncles, aunts and cous- blem, ga rešuje vedno celotna druži- ins. Whenever a problem needs to be na. In ta predmet predstavlja prav to solved, it is always discussed by the enotnost, to povezavo družine. Ena whole family. This object symbolizes that družina, prepletena, in vsi delamo za unity, the unity of the family. One fam- družino.« ily, intertwined, and we all work for the family” Peter Bossman vedno nosi za- pestnico s simbolom Adinkra, s či- Peter Bossman always wears a brace- mer izraža svoje veliko spoštovanje let with an Adinkra symbol, expressing do njih. Ti simboli izhajajo iz gan- his great respect of the symbols, which skega ljudstva Akan, prenašajo pa derive from the Ghanaian Akan people različna sporočila. »Sam nosim za- and convey various messages. “I wear pestnico s simbolom za moč oziro- a bracelet with the symbol of strength or ma vztrajnost. V Gani je najbolj znan persistence. In Ghana the best known simbol Gye Nyame, ki pomeni: Bog symbol is called Gye Nyame, meaning je vsemogočen. V Gani je ta simbol “God is almighty”. It is everywhere in povsod, na obleki, na lončenih po- Ghana: on clothes, earthenware ves- sodah, na nakitu. Simboli Adinkra so sels, jewellery, etc. The Adinkra sym- res ostali z mano. Riba pomeni izo- bols have really stayed with me. The bilje, imam pa še simbol za pogla- fish symbol means affluence, and there varja in simbol za vztrajnost oziroma is a symbol for a chief and a symbol mir.« Ob sebi ima vedno tudi rezerv- for perseverance or peace.” He always ne zapestnice, če tisto, ki jo nosi, keeps a couple of spare bracelets at slučajno izgubi. hand, in case he loses the one he’s wearing. Peter Bossman je s pomočjo slike na tekstilu, ki prikazuje drevesi ka- With this painting on textile, showing kavovca in ljudi, ki delajo v nasadu, two cacao trees and people working in predstavil kakav kot pomemben iz- a plantation, Peter Bossman emphasiz- vozni produkt Gane. Več kot polovi- es how important cacao exports are to co vse svetovne proizvodnje kakava Ghana. More than half the world pro- danes pridelajo v državah Zahodne duction of cacao is today grown in the Afrike. »Ko sem prišel v Slovenijo štu- countries of West Africa. “When I came dirat, sem to sliko prinesel s seboj iz to Slovenia to study here, I brought this Gane. Spominja me na ta razvoj in picture with me from Ghana. It reminds blaginjo Gane, ki jo je omogočil ka- me of the development and welfare ca- kav. To sliko imam razstavljeno v am- cao brought to Ghana. I keep this pic- bulanti.« ture in my surgery.” V zdravniški ambulanti ima razstavlje- Peter Bossman’s surgery also features a no tudi masko lovca, ki jo je prav tako hunter mask, which he selected for the izbral za razstavo. Po njegovem pri- exhibition as well. He beliefs its symbol- čevanju pomeni moč nad naravo in izes power over nature and power over Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 39 moč nad živalmi: »Morda simbolizira animals: “Perhaps it also symbolizes moč nad boleznijo.« power over disease.” Peter Bossman je za razstavo izbral Another item Peter Bossman chose for tudi skupino skulptur iz kovine, ki je the exhibition is a group of metal figu- tradicionalni izdelek ljudstva Ašanti, rines. They are traditional products of the ki je zelo znano prav po obdelovanju Ashanti people, who are famous for their različnih kovin – zlata, srebra, bakra. metal-working skills, using gold, silver, »Dve tretjini Gancev živita v ruralnem copper, etc. “Two thirds of the Ghana- delu Gane, in te skulpture predstavlja- ians live in the countryside and these fig- jo ljudi, ki živijo na vasi. Ta skulptura urines represent the people living in the predstavlja poglavarja, to je ženska, villages. This figurine represents a chief, ki kuha, to je ženska, ki pere, to je pa and here is a woman cooking, and this griot. Včasih so se vaščani zbirali ob is a griot. In the past the villagers used to večerih in griot je pripovedoval o zgo- gather in the evening and the griot told dovini vasi in družin, ki tam živijo. Gre them about the history of the village and za ustno zgodovino. Tega je danes the families living there. This is oral histo- seveda manj, ker smo prišli v obdob- ry. Today there is of course much less of je televizije in drugih tehnologij.« Griot it, as we are now in the era of television je v državah Zahodne Afrike ohra- and other technologies.” In the countries njevalec zgodovine, pripovedovalec of West Africa, the griot is the keeper zgodb, genealog, pa tudi glasbenik, of history, a storyteller and genealogist, učitelj in svetovalec. Tradicionalne but also a musician, teacher, and ad- vloge griotov se zaradi spremenjenih visor. The traditional roles of the griots družbenih razmer spreminjajo. are changing because of the changing social conditions. 40 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Richard Sendi Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 41 Richard Sendi se je rodil v Ugandi, ko je bila ta še britanska kolonija. Posebej je poudaril svoj odnos z mamo, ki ga je veliko naučila in imela Richard Sendi was born in Uganda when the country was still a British colony. He especially emphasized his relationship with his mother, who taught him a pomemben vpliv na razvoj njegove osebnosti. Z očetom je preživljal lot and had an important influence on the development of his personality. He manj časa, saj je bil vedno zelo zaposlen, vendar pa je imel oče pomembno spent less time with his father, who was always very busy, but had an important role vlogo pri šolanju otrok. in the education of the children. Ko je oddal vlogo za štipendijo za študij v tujini, so mu na ambasadi ponudili When he applied for a scholarship to study abroad, the embassy offered him Yugo-Jugoslavijo. Če bi mu ponudili Rusijo ali Kitajsko, ne bi šel, saj so bile po nje- slavia. If he had been offered Russia or China, he wouldn’t have accepted as he felt govem mnenju to države z zelo trdim komunizmom. Za Jugoslavijo se je lažje that these were countries with a harsh brand of communism. It was easier for him odločil, čeprav je o njej imel skope informacije. V Slovenijo je prišel leta 1972. to opt for Yugoslavia, although he had little information about the country. He arrived Zavod SR Slovenije za mednarodno znanstveno, tehnično, prosvetno in kul-in Slovenia in 1972. ZAMTES (The Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for interna- turno sodelovanje (ZAMTES) je njihovo generacijo namestil pri družinah v Nak- tional scientific, technical, educational and cultural cooperation) accommodated his lem pri Kranju, da bi jim s tem olajšal učenje slovenščine. Od tam so se vozili v generation of foreign students with families in Naklo near Kranj, to make it easier for Kranj na tečaj slovenskega jezika. Po opravljenem tečaju in sprejemnem izpitu them to learn Slovene. From there they daily commuted to Kranj to attend a course se je vpisal na študij arhitekture. Med študijem je bil aktiven v Zvezi afriških in Slovene. After completing the course and passing the entrance exam, he enrolled študentov, kjer je bil nekaj časa vodja folklorne skupine. Bil je tudi glavni pevec, in architecture. While a student, he was active in the African Student Association, igral je na boben in izvajal točko pihanja ognja. where he headed the folklore group for some time. He was the group’s solo singer, played the drum, and performed the act of blowing fire. Zaposlen je na Urbanističnem inštitutu Republike Slovenije, kjer je vodja stano- vanjskih študij, predsednik Znanstvenega sveta inštituta in predstavnik usluž- Richard Sendi is employed with the Institute of Urban Planning of the Republic of bencev v Upravnem odboru inštituta. S svojim delom je zelo zadovoljen. Med Slovenia, where he heads the housing studies; he is also the chairman of the in-drugim veliko potuje in se kot razisko- stitute’s Scientific Council and the repre- valec udeležuje mednarodnih znan- sentative of the employees in the Board stvenih konferenc. Ko se predstavi in of Directors. He is very satisfied with his pove, da je iz Slovenije, so ljudje za- job, as it allows him, among others, to čudeni, saj tega ne pričakujejo. On pa travel a lot and participate in international jim rad pove, da je iz Slovenije in po scientific conferences as a researcher. državljanstvu Slovenec. When he introduces himself (abroad), saying that he is from Slovenia, people Ko je Richard Sendi z enajstletno are surprised, because it is something hčerko obiskal svoje sorodnike v they wouldn’t expect. And he likes to tell Ugandi, ji je njegova mama, torej nje- them that he is from Slovenia and a Slo- na babica, v spomin na Ugando ozi- vene citizen. roma na bugandsko kulturo podarila tradicionalno obleko. »Gre za obleko, When Richard Sendi and his elev- ki se imenuje gomesi oziroma busuu- en-year old daughter visited their rel- ti. Je zelo pisana obleka, ki sega do atives in Uganda, his mother, i.e. her tal. Posebnost te obleke je pas, ki se grandma, gave her a traditional dress in namesti pod pas čez boke ženske, memory of Uganda and the Buganda blago zanjo pa je za odraslo osebo culture. “It is a dress called gomesi or lahko tudi šest metrov dolgo. Ko jo busuuti. It is very colourful and reaches je dobila, je bila [hčerka] precej nav- to the ground. Its particularity is the belt dušena, kasneje pa je ni nikoli več that is wrapped below the waist across oblekla.« the woman’s hips, and the fabric for an 42 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Richard Sendi je opisoval svoje adult person may be up to six metres študentske čase, ko je nastopal v long. When she got the dress, she [his folklorni skupini Zveze afriških štu- daughter] was enthusiast about it, but dentov. Nekaj časa je bil tudi vodja she later never wore it again.” te skupine, v kateri je sicer v okviru številnih nastopov pihal ogenj, pel in Richard Sendi described his life as a igral na boben. Za razstavo je izbral student when he performed with the boben, ki ga je prinesel iz Ugande folklore group of the African Student po koncu študentskih let, saj ga Association. For some time he was the spominja na številne nastope folklor- group’s leader and in many performanc- ne skupine po Sloveniji. »Boben je es he sung, played the drum, and blew zame zelo lep izdelek. Je edini in- fire. For the exhibition he chose a drum štrument, ki me povezuje z Afriko, z he brought from Uganda towards the mojo kulturo. Rad igram, če je pri- end of his studies, as it reminds him of ložnost za to.« the many performances of the folklore group around Slovenia. “The drum is a Richard Sendi s svojimi prijatelji v Slo- very beautiful instrument to me. It’s the veniji rad deli hrano in pijačo, ki sta only instrument that connects me with povezani z njegovo prvotno domovi- Africa, with my culture. I like to play it no. Kadar je šel v Ugando, je kdaj pa whenever there’s a chance.” kdaj s seboj prinesel Uganda Waragi, zelo močno alkoholno pijačo iz pro- Richard Sendi likes to share food and sa. Lokalne alkoholne pijače v Ugandi drinks, connected with his native coun- so sicer pripravljene iz koruze, prosa try, with his friends in Slovenia. When ali sladkih banan. »Ta pijača je edina he visits Uganda, he sometimes buys stvar, ki sem jo lahko kdaj prinesel, Uganda Waragi, a very strong alcoholic da sem jo ponudil prijateljem, da so drink made from millet. In Uganda the poskusili poleg samos – zelenjavnih local alcoholic drinks are usually made ali mesnih zavitkov, ki sem jih pripravil from maize, millet or sweet bananas. zanje.« Stekleničko Uganda Waragi, ”This drink is the only thing I bring some- ki jo je posodil za razstavo, je to leto times with me to serve to my friends v Slovenijo prinesel njegov prijatelj iz and have them taste it together with Ugande, ki svojo prvotno domovino the vegetable or meat samosas I pre- pogosteje obiskuje. pare for them.” The bottle of Uganda Waragi, which he lent for the exhibition, Richard Sendi pripada ljudstvu Bu- was brought to Slovenia by a Ugandan ganda, ki je imelo že veliko pred pri- friend, who visits their native country hodom britanskih kolonialistov razvit more often. izjemno kompleksen politični sistem. To je želel poudariti s knjižico Bugan- Richard Sendi belongs to the Buganda dsko kraljestvo in njegova monarhija people, who had a developed, highly (2007). »Buganda je že pred priho- complex political system long before dom britanskih kolonialistov imela the rival of the British colonists. That is urejen hierarhični sistem vladanja. Ta what he wanted to emphasize with the Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 43 knjižica je zelo pomembna, ker zna- booklet The Buganda Kingdom and its nje o tem razbija mite o ugandskih monarchy (2007). “Buganda had a well (afriških) skupnostih kot divjih, primi- structured hierarchical system of ruling tivnih, ki naj bi jim šele kolonialisti ob before the arrival of the British colonists. svojem prihodu prvič predstavili ozi- This booklet is very important because roma jim celo vsilili urejene sisteme it shatters the myth about Ugandan političnega vladanja. Knjižico z vese- (African) communities as savage and ljem ponudim prijateljem, kadarkoli primitive, who were introduced to and je priložnost za to, da se seznanijo forced to accept an orderly system of z drugo, ‘natančnejšo’ zgodbo ozi- political rule only after the arrival of the roma delim zgodovino o moji rojstni colonists. I like to give it to my friends, državi.« Poudaril je izjemen pomen whenever there’s an opportunity, to tega, da je to knjižico napisal profesor introduce them to another, “more ex- dr. John C. Ssekamwa, ki poučuje na act” story and to share with them the Univerzi Nkumba v mestu Entebbe history of my native country”. Richard (blizu prestolnice Kampala) v Ugandi, Sendi emphasized the importance of in tako s perspektive domačega razi- the fact that the booklet was written skovalca prispeval k boljšemu pozna- by Professor Dr. John C. Ssekamwa, vanju zgodovine Ugande in njenega who teaches at the Nkumba University političnega si - of Entebbe (close to the capital Kam- stema. pala) in Uganda, because he contrib- utes to a better understanding of the history of Uganda and its political sys- tem from the perspective of a domestic researcher. 44 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov ebuah Robert Y Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 45 Robert Yebuah je bil rojen v Gani, preden se je osamosvojila od britan- ske nadvlade. Bil je prvi sin v družini. Oče mu je dal ime Abraham, kot Robert Yebuah was born in Ghana before the country gained independence from the British rule. He was the first son in the family. His father baptised moški prvorojenec pa je dobil še ime Nortey. Ob birmi si je lahko sam him Abraham, and as the first male child he was given the name Nortey. At izbral ime in tako je postal Robert Abraham Nortey. V Gani otroka poimenujejo his Confirmation he was able to choose a first name for himself and he thus became tudi glede na dan v tednu, na katerega se je rodil. Rodil se je v nedeljo, zato Robert Abraham Nortey. In Ghana a child is given an additional name based on the je dobil ime Kwasi. Ko je opravil maturo na tehnični gimnaziji, je bil star 19 let. day of the week it is born, and as Robert was born on a Sunday, that name was Kljub temu, da je že imel štipendijo za študij, se je po vzoru prijateljev s po-Kwasi. When he completed his A-levels at the technical grammar school, he was klicnimi šolami, ki so že delali, zaposlil v laboratoriju jeklarne v nineteen years old. Although he was granted a scholarship to study, mestu Tema blizu Akre. Čez nekaj let se je odločil, da bo študiral he followed the example of his friends, who had completed voca- arhitekturo. Ker je hotel v tujino, je lahko izbiral le med tistimi tional schools and were already employed, and he started working študiji, ki jih v Gani ni bilo. Izbral je metalurgijo in na ambasadi at the laboratory of the ironworks in the town of Tema, near Accra. so mu določili študij montanistike na fakulteti v Ljubljani, kamor A couple of years later he decided to study architecture. But as he je prišel leta 1965. wanted to study abroad, he could only choose from the study cours- es that were not available in Ghana. He opted for metallurgy and at V Ljubljani je sicer želel vpisati arhitekturo, a je Gana zahtevala, the embassy he was assigned to study mining science at the faculty da se študentje vpišejo na študije, na katere so bili poslani, in Ljubljana, where he arrived in 1965. zato se je moral vpisati na metalurgijo. Že v študentskih časih je bil aktiven kot pevec, pel je v ansamblu Unioni, v Zvezi afriških He wanted to enrol in architecture in Ljubljana, but Ghana required the študentov pa se ni želel udejstvovati. Če bi se Zvezi pridružil, bi to razumel students it sent abroad to enrol in the study courses that were assigned to them, and kot ločevanje od širše družbe in zapiranje v svojo skupino. To je bilo zanj ne-he therefore had to enrol in metallurgy. While a student, he was active as a singer, sprejemljivo, zato je poiskal druge možnosti. Med drugim je bil dejaven v večih performing with the Unioni band, but did not want to engage with the African Student slovenskih pevskih zborih. Association. If he had joined the association, he would have felt that as a separation from the wider society, as a group shutting itself off from it. That was unacceptable Ko je zaključil študij metalurgije, se je zaradi pogod- to him and he therefore looked for other options. Among be z Gano, ki je opredeljevala njegovo vrnitev domov others, he was a member of several Slovene choirs. in delo na ustreznem področju za najmanj pet let, skupaj z družino preselil v Akro. Tam se je zaposlil When he completed his studies of metallurgy, his con- v Svetu za znanstvene in industrijske raziskave na tract with Ghana required him to return home and to work Inštitutu za industrijsko raziskovanje, kjer so mu takoj in a suitable job for at least five years. He moved to Accra dali dva projekta. Ker se je zataknilo pri njuni izvedbi, with his family and found employment with the Institute se je odločil, da se vrnejo v Slovenijo. Zaposlil se je of Industrial Research of the Council for Scientific and In- v IMV-ju in nato v Revozu, kjer je delal sedemindvaj- dustrial Research, where he was immediately assigned set let, nato pa je bil enajst let vodja laboratorija in two projects. When the execution of the projects ran into predavatelj za študente ob delu v Šolskem centru v difficulties, he decided that they should return to Slovenia. Novem mestu. Here he was employed with the IMV company and later with Revoz, where he worked for twenty-seven years, to Robert Yebuah je zelo ponosen na moško tradici- then head the laboratory for eleven years, and he also onalno obleko ljudstva Akan, ki jo je prinesel s sa- lectured to part-time students at the School Centre in bo, ko je prvič prišel v Jugoslavijo. Nanjo je izrazi- Novo mesto. to čustveno navezan. »Moj oče mi je dal to obleko kot najstarejšemu sinu, zato jo zelo čuvam. Izdelana Robert Yebuah is very proud of the traditional men’s dress je iz bombaža, ki je ročno tkan. To so trakovi, tka- of the Akan people, which he brought with him when he ni na statvah. Uporabljene so ganske barve. Rde- first came to Yugoslavia. He has a deeply emotional re- ča predstavlja prelito kri med bojem za neodvisnost, lationship with it. “My father gave it to me as the oldest 46 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov zelena predstavlja zelenje, naravo, son, and I take very good care of it. It is rodovitnost, rumena pa predstavlja made of hand-woven cotton. These are bogastvo, saj ima Gana veliko zla- cloth strips woven on looms. The colours ta. Ko sta se hčerki poročili in sem are typically Ghanaian. Red symbolizes ju predal njunima možema, sem bil the blood spilt during the independence oblečen v kente.« struggle, green represents vegetation, nature, fertility, and yellow symbolizes S svojo družino je večkrat igral igro affluence, as Ghana has a lot of gold. oware, tradicionalno strateško igro When my daughters married and I gave ljudstva Ašanti v Gani. V Slovenijo them away to their husbands, I wore this jo je prinesel ob enem izmed svojih kente dress. obiskov Gane. Igro igrata dve ose- bi, ki poskušata pobrati kar največ Robert Yebuah liked to play the oware kroglic oziroma semen iz odprtin. Za game, a traditional strategic game of the razstavo jo je izbral zaradi povezave Ashanti people in Ghana, with his family. s prvotno domovino, danes pa jo v He brought it to Slovenia after one of his družinskem krogu bolj redko igrajo. visits to Ghana. The game is played by Kot pravi sam, so vsi družbeno an- two persons, who try to collect as many gažirani in za to zmanjkuje časa. balls or seeds as possible from the holes. He chose it for the exhibition as it Robert Yebuah je za razstavo izbral moško tuniko, reminds him of his native country, but nowadays they tradicionalno oblačilo iz severne Gane, ki pa jo po rarely play it in the family. He says that they are now all njegovih besedah nosijo po vsej Gani. Njegova je socially engaged and there is no time left. stara več kot petdeset let, prinesel pa jo je s se- boj, ko je prvič prišel v Jugoslavijo. Nosil jo je že v For the exhibition Robert also selected a men’s tu- Gani in si jo še vedno pogosto obleče, saj je zelo nic, a traditional dress from North Ghana, which he prijetna in lahka. »V Gani je več etničnih skupin in says is worn all over Ghana. His tunic is over fifty years množica raznih ver brez fanatizma. V glavnem se old, as he brought it with him when he first came to imajo Ganci za eno ljudstvo z nevtralno angleščino Yugoslavia. He had already worn it in Ghana and still kot skupnim jezikom, opredeljenim v ustavi. Obla- likes to put it on quit often as it is nice and light. “In čila ene etnične skupine se nosijo po celi državi, Ghana there are several ethnic groups and many dif- po okusu posameznikov pač. To kaže na visoko ferent religions, but without any fanaticism. In general, stopnjo sožitja med Ganci nasploh in s tem tudi the Ghanaians consider themselves to be one people strpnosti do tujcev.« with the neutral English as their common language, as defined in the constitution. Clothes typical of one Žensko obleko je dobila njegova žena kot sva- or another ethnic group are worn all over the country, kinjino darilo ob obisku Gane. Obleko je večkrat to the individual’s taste. This indicates the high level oblekla tudi v Sloveniji, za enega od svojih nasto- of coexistence among the Ghanaians in general and pov pa jo je uporabila tudi njegova hči Irena, ki je their tolerance towards foreigners as well”. pevka. Obleko je poleg spomina na svoje sorod- nike v Gani in ženino darilo izbral predvsem zaradi This women’s dress was given to Robert Yebuah’s vzorca, ki jo krasi, saj ima zanj pomembno sporo- wife by a sister-in-law during a visit to Ghana. Robert’s čilo: »Zaradi te vezenine, mi temu pravimo joromi wife wore it on several occasions in Slovenia, and his (izg. džoromi). Vzorec predstavlja oziroma kliče k daughter Irene, who is a singer, used it for one of her Africa and Slovenia A web of people and objects 47 enotnosti. Pet simbolov na eni stra- performances. Robert chose the dress ni in pet na drugi, spodaj pa sta dve because it reminds him of his relatives dlani, ki naj bi te simbole držali, da in Ghana and because it was a present ne padejo dol. Prav tako ne dovolita, to his wife, but the principal reason was da bi se katera stran prevesila nad the pattern that adorns it, because it drugo. Gre za ravnotežje. Eden gleda conveys a special message: “Because drugega in to pomeni, da ne morejo of this embroidery we call it joromi. The biti sovražniki. Morajo sodelovati. Gre pattern represents unity or calls for it. za prirejeni tradicionalni vzorec, ime- Five symbols are on one side and five novan Adinkra, ki simbolizira zgoraj on the other, and below them are two opisano misel.« hands preventing these symbols from falling down. And they also prevent any side to predominate over the other. They look after one another and this means that they cannot be enemies. They have to cooperate. It is a modified traditional pattern, called Adinkra, which symboliz- es the idea described above.” 48 Afrika in Slovenija Preplet ljudi in predmetov Razstava Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja Exhibition of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji december 2017 – april 2018 Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 719:002(6+497.4)(082) Publikacija ob razstavi Exhibition publication AFRIKA in Slovenija : preplet ljudi in Izdal in založil Slovesnki etnografski muzej predmetov = Africa & Slovenia : a web of Published by the Slovene Ethnographic museum people and objects / [besedila Marko Frelih zanj / for it Tanja Roženbergar, direktorica / director ... [et al.] ; urednica Bojana Rogelj Škafar ; fotografije Aleš Verbič ; prevod Franc Smrke]. Basedila / Texts: Marko Frelih, Anja Koren, Tina Palaić, Bojana Rogelj Škafar, Tanja Roženbergar - Ljubljana : Slovenski etnografski muzej = Fotografije / Photo: Aleš Verbič, dokumentacija SEM in Muzeja novejše zgodovine Slovenije / Slovene Ethnographic Museum, 2017 SEM documentation and Museum of contemporary history of Slovenia Urednica / Editor: Bojana Rogelj Škafar ISBN 978-961-6388-66-5 Jezikovni pregled / Proofreading: Vilma Kavšček 1. Vzp. stv. nasl. 2. Frelih, Marko 3. Rogelj Prevod / Translation: Franc Smrke Škafar, Bojana Oblikovanje / Design: Janja Ošlaj 292787968 Tisk / Print: Medium Žirovnica, Slovenija / Slovenia, 2017 Projekt je sofinanciran iz programa Ustvarjalna Evropa Evropske unije. Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Izvedba tega projekta je sofinancirana s strani Evropske komisije.Vsebina videa je izključna odgovornost avtorja in v nobenem primeru ne predstavlja stališč Evropske komisije. The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.