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Fascinating culture of the San

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Culture of the Zambezi region

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Hunter-gatherer culture of the Damara

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Unique culture of the Ovahimba

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San culture of the Kalahari

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Bantu culture of the Okavango

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San culture of Northern Namibia

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Traditional cultures in Namibia

Welcome to the website of the Living Culture Foundation Namibia (LCFN). The LCFN is a non-profit, German-Namibian organization, which focuses on cultural cooperation in rural areas in Namibia. We help Namibian communities to establish Living Museums.

Living Museums in Namibia

A Living Museum is an authentic way of presenting traditional culture and has three main aims:

1

Fight against poverty in Namibia

By developing a Living Museum local communities can create a sustainable source of income

2

Preservation of traditional culture

With the work in Living Museums people in communal areas are encouraged to deal with their traditional culture to protect or regain important parts of their cultural identity.

3

Creation of a cultural and intercultural exchange

Visitors of the Living Museums can learn a lot about the interesting cultures of Namibian language groups and have a great opportunity to get to know the people of Namibia.

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Living Museums in Namibia

Please find an overview of all Living Museum in Namibia

Meeting in Grashoek: Controversy between Ju/'Hoansi and !Kung

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Meeting Grashoek Ju/’Hoansi Living Museum 23.05. & 24.05.2025

Kathrin Dürrschmidt

On Sunday, 18.05.2025 morning I received a phone call from the manager of the Ju/’Hoansi Living Museum, Apollo, informing me that the police arrived in Grashoek that morning to investigate a guest that had taken pictures of children and that there apparently was a problem.

On Wednesday, 21.05.2025 I spoke to Apollo again. The British tourist had been arrested and was faced with 38 charges including rape and child trafficking and indecent assault. Apollo was not aware of any of those assaults and said it would be better if we came up to Grashoek to have a meeting.

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Statement on the incident at the Ju/'Hoansi Living Museum: Alleged photographing of naked underage girls and boys by a tourist

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The Living Culture Foundation Namibia (LCFN), representative of the seven official Living Museums in Namibia, was informed on Sunday by the manager of the Living Museum in Grashoek about the incident in which a visitor to the Ju/'Hoansi Living Museum in Grashoek allegedly took nude photographs of minors.

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20th anniversary of the Living Museum in Grashoek

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Incredible but true! The Living Museum in Grashoek, Namibia’s first Living Museum, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024.

For this occasion, we organized a small commemorative event in December 2024 together with Carsten Möhle from Bwana Tucke-Tucke, featuring an archery tournament followed by a dinner!

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Infrastructure project completed at Mbunza Living Museum

Infrastructure project completed at Mbunza Living Museum

In the Mbunza Living Museum, another major infrastructure project financed by our association was completed in September 2024.

The Living Culture Foundation Namibia helped setting up a small campsite including a shower and toilet for travelers who visit the Mbunza Living Museum to further support the Living Museum.

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Traditional, intercultural workshop of all 7 living museums

Traditional, intercultural workshop of all 7 living museums

During the last project tour, the idea of a traditional workshop at the Mbunza Living Museum came about. The aim of the workshop was to improve traditional craft techniques that originally played a role in the respective traditional cultures and are now demonstrated in the living museums, as well as to relearn lost techniques. Furthermore, the workshop should also contribute to intercultural exchange. It was the first time that members from all seven Living Museums came together.

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Living Museum Workshop 2023

Living Museum Workshop 2023

The Living Culture Foundation Namibia is organizing a traditional workshop and music festival for all Living Museums from Monday, October 30, 2023 to Friday, November 3, 2023. The workshop will take place at the Mbunza Living Museum, approximately 15 km west of Rundu.

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Sensational 4000€ fundraiser

Sensational 4000€ fundraiser

The employees and patients of the dialysis clinics in Tangermünde and Genthin handed over a donation of €4,000 to Dr. Ralf Kühn, founding member and chairman of the board of the German-Namibian association Living Culture Namibia at his farewell party from work. This money was given to the Living Culture Foundation as a grant for the further development of the museum landscape in Namibia.

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Mbunza infrastructure project (part 1) completed

Mbunza infrastructure project (part 1) completed

Thanks to a very generous donation of €3,600 from Ms. Ute Schmidt-Rohr, we were able to successfully complete the first part of the water infrastructure project at the Mbunza Living Museum.

A pump was installed at the Samsitu campsite very close to the Living Museum and it continuously pumps water via a small mini-pipeline into a 2500m³ tank at the museum. Thus, for the first time since the opening in 2011, the museum project workers have a regulated water supply directly at the project site.

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Project meeting for the development of a Herero Living Museum

Project meeting for the development of a Herero Living Museum

 This meeting was a "follow-up" to the previous meeting in March 2022 to assess the project progress in the development of a Herero Living Museum in Otjokavare. From our side, two things were essential. Firstly: Better communication structures must be created. Secondly: There must be a clear agreement on further cooperation with the Herero community from Otjokavare and a commitment to the concept of the "Living Museum" with all of ist interwoven principles.

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Mafwe Museum sign erection and project meeting

Mafwe Museum sign erection and project meeting

In August 2022 we paid a visit to the Mafwe at the Living Museum in the northern part of Namibia to, among other things, install a new road sign.

The erection of the sign had become necessary because the Mafwe had moved two years ago and some of the tour operators, who until then had only known the old place, were going to nowhere out of habit. The sign erected two years ago at the crossroads 3km south of the museum was too easy to miss. Therefore it was necessary to put up a bigger sign.

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