VUKANI ZULU CULTURAL MUSEUM

Where: Fort Nongqayi Museum Village, Nongqayi Road, Eshowe
Curator: Vivienne Garside
Contact: Tel. +27 (0) 35-4745274
Fax: +27 (0) 865782983
e-mail: vukanimuseum@lantic.net
Bookings: +27 (0) 35-4742281 The entrance fee to the Museum Village covers all the museums and workshops on the premises. Special interest groups who wish to visit Vukani only can make their booking directly to the museum.

The Vukani Zulu Cultural Museum was created in 1991, using the personal collection of rev Kjell Lofroth and Mrs Bertha Lofroth as its core. Rev and Mrs Lofroth with their friend, Baba Elliot Dludla, were the driving force behind the Vukani Association, which almost single-handedly created a new market for the crafters of Zululand.

Today, the museum has built on this outstanding work and has an international reputation as a repository of some the most exquisite Zulu craft, including the largest known collections of the work of the late Nesta Nala and the late Reuben Ndwandwe. The impact is breathtaking as the eye is drawn from the plain, functional items of yesteryear to the magnificent artistic expressions of today. Through this wide range, the museum walks the line between an ethnological centre and an art gallery.

The museum is under the stewardship of the Vukani Collection Trust, a multi-cultural group of local residents who are passionate about the rare works in their charge. With their dedicated staff, they have committed themselves to rescuing old items of traditional use, and to creating opportunities for crafters to market their work. To raise funds for this purpose, they buy and sell superb craft work at fair prices, and collectors are welcome to make enquiries in this regard.