Basotho Heritage Blanket exhibition at Sanlam, Alice Lane, Sandton until January 2025
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Sutha Ke Fete
This is a gem of an exhibition currently showing until January 2025 in, of all places, Sanlam’s headquarters on the 6th floor at 11, Alice Lane Sandton. Entitled “Sutha Ke Fete’’, this show includes an amazing number of Basotho blankets with fascinating histories of their production, use, stylistic variance and significance. One Sunday morning I joined a walkabout arranged by the SA Archeological Society (colloquially known as the ArchSoc). The walkabout was run by the two curators Stefan Hundt, curator of the Sanlam Collection, and Steven Sack, Director of the Cape Town Science Centre. A collaborative affair, with blankets coming from the Sanlam Collection, the National Museum in Bloemfontein (including their Robertson collection) and from the Aranda Textile company. Information is gleaned from the archivists at the Morija Museum in Lesotho; from published academic sources; from oral sources; and from the photographer Mohloua Ramakatane’s huge archive of studio photographs of sitters wearing Basotho blankets.
This exhibition could be a potentially hidden ‘undiscovered’ gem, given that it is not on show in a major gallery. You can make arrangements to visit the exhibition (see contact number at the end of the blog) and please watch out for any further walkabouts. It was only when writing this blog that my memory was sparked … and I vividly remember the blue and brown colours of the Basotho blanket I snuggled under in cold Joburg winter nights during my school days ( a VERY long time ago) … I remember the traditional Basotho hat and the brown edging.. but can I remember more than that?
“Kobo ke bophelo”, the blanket is life
The exhibition starts with a fascinating story board chronicling the main dates of the early blankets up until the present day, and then moves into the early blankets and to different types of blankets. Throughout the exhibition it is clear that the blankets are strongly codified signifiers, marking gender, status, rites of passage, commemorations and even speak of contemporary high fashion.
This image from 1845, part of the introductory chronology, shows the transition from the wearing of karosses and skins to blankets
Gender indicators
The design of this Sandringham blanket (named after the Royal Palace in Norfolk) goes back to the late 19th Century and shows the traditional marker of Basotho blanket design: the 3 or 4 vertical stripes running the length of the blanket. The stripe was usually worn vertically on the body with the blanket. Traditionally the colouring of these blankets was darker on one side that the other. The darker side was shown when worn by men; and the lighter side shown when worn by women. This blanket is currently part of the Robertson Collection in the National Museum in Bloemfontein.
Rites of Passage : Inititation; marriage; birth
Some of the earliest blankets were made by Wormald and Walker textile mill in Dewesebury – the early grey monochrome blankets as well as the Moholobela or initiation blankets, thought to be the first blankets made specifically for the Basotho market.
The label (bottom left of image) in this example of a Moholobela initiation blanket, bears the name Fraser with the crocodile emblem, symbol of the royal Bakoena clan and the national symbol of Lesotho. The Fraser brothers acted as agents for Wormald and Walker and sold blankets as early as the 1880s.
Father please buy me a Seanamarena blanket for my wedding
One of the most popular blanket types is the Seanamarena (meaning ‘We have the honour to swear by our chiefs’). Olive and Charles Henry Robertson ran a trading store in Leribe in Lesotho and Olive designed the Poone blanket (right above) with corncobs, a symbol of fertility and prosperity, while the Chromatic design was Charles’ (honeycomb with the Ace of Spades – a symbol of power) named after his initials CHR! According to one source the Robertsons’ store was called Seanamara.This photo comes from the exhibition information panel on the Seanamarena blanketAs above this photo comes from the exhibition information panel on the Seanamarena blanket
Serope blankets – traditionally marking the birth of first child
The translation of Serope: ” soft as a pregnant woman’s thighs’, refers to both the soft texture of these blankets and the tradition of being given by the husband to his wife when they celebrated the birth of their first child.
Stefan Hundt in front these especially prized Serope blankets that give the exhibition its title Sutha Ka Fete meaning “Make way so I can pass”.
Commemoration
The exhibition panel below giving information on the Victoria England blanket sets right the myths and legends of popular history.
7 Nkoko has much more of a coloquial ring to it than “Victoria England”!
The six designs that make up the current Victoria England Collection made and sold by Aranda Textiles. Aranda Textiles was established in Randfontein in 1951 by 3 Magni brothers whose mill had been destroyed in Italy in WWII. When Frasers closed in 1991, Aranda acquired the rights to manufacture the Victoria England blankets (along with the Seanamarena blankets). They still include the Wormald’s name on the labels of the Victoria England blankets.Shrubsole’s 1947 serious ommission of any Basotho emblem in the Badges of the Brave blanket (shown below).Play “Where’s Wallie” finding the 13 emblems in this Badge of Honour blanket.Blankets are specially designed to mark national celebrations and anniversaries as well as weddings, birthdays and deaths linked to royalty and important people. On exhibition are blankets celebrating events as disparate as Pope John Paul II’s visit to Lesotho in 1988, to the marking of the donation of a Spitfire aircraft to the Lesotho Government. Basotholand, as it was then, had contributed to funds to make Spitfires in WWII. This blanket above, the Leseli blanket, was designed in memory of King Moshoeshoe. Wheat and mielies/corn signify abundance and prosperity while swallows (spot the swallows!) are signs that rain is on the way. I read the ‘swallows’ as the corn husks … but if the info panel says they are swallows, I’ll go with it!
The first Young Basotho’s Designer Range launched by Aranda in 2022-23
Alice Bereng I am Diaspora Maize Young Basotho Design Awards Sanlam Art CollectionKhosi Leteba Bodulo Aranda’s Young Basotho Design Awards Sanlam Art Collection. Here the traditional vertical stripes of the Basotho blanket design give a disconcerting edge to the landscape motif and the designs that the eye wants to read horizontally.In the 2018 movie Black Panther, where members of the fictional Wakada people wore Basotho Heritage Blankets, the stripes are worn horizontally around the body rather than running the vertical height of the body
This exhibition runs until January 2025. You can arrange access (and even parking) at any time (including over a weekend) with the Sanlam Guest Relations Officer on 011 788 6822.