OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM WINTER HIGHLIGHTS www.nasmus.co.za
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liewenhuis Art Museum is a satellite of the National Museum in Bloemfontein, an agency of the Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa. The Art Museum houses between 12 and 15 temporary exhibitions per annum. Every attempt is made to provide excellent exhibition space for artists to exhibit their work and to enrich the public’s knowledge, understanding and appreciation of our cultural heritage and to reflect the full diversity of South African art. During this month, the following exceptional exhibitions can be viewed: Current Exhibitions include; Basotho Blankets Exhibition until 23 June 2019 The anthropology collection of the National Museum, Bloemfontein houses a large collection of Basotho blankets. Most are part of the Robertson collection, on loan from Neil Robertson’s family. Neil Robertson was a thirdgeneration tradesman in Basotho blankets, the grandson of Charles Hendry Robertson. What makes this collection of blankets unique is the time span over which it was collected. The collection includes a Sandringham mountain rug or Mohodu dating back to 1934, a Badges of the brave blanket honouring those who fought during World War II (19391945) as well as a Batho ba Roma blanket made to commemorate Pope John Paul’s visit to Lesotho in 1988. But certainly the most prestigious blanket in the collection is the Victoria England / Seanamarena or ‘chief’s blanket’. All of the above-mentioned blankets form part of the exhibition on display in the Annex gallery of the Art Museum.
Basotho Blankets, Oliewenhuis
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