One day… before they…

Last Wednesday was a Public Holiday in South Africa and most people celebrated “Braai Day” with steak and beer in the sun. However much all South Africans love their meat, the actual holiday is “Heritage Day”, a day to celebrate the diversity in culture, traditions and beliefs of all South Africans.

The most noticeable feature of Heritage Day (apart from the smell of charcoal) is that men, women and children wear the traditional clothing of their culture. In most African countries, clothing is an important part of heritage: colours, hairstyles, beads, bangles, feathers and jewelry all have a meaning and will tell the skilled observer if a woman is married, widowed, pregnant or still awaiting her first period. While the dress of women reveals a lot about their marital status, the traditional clothing of men says a lot about their social status and rank in society.

     

In addition to being quite ‘informative’, South African traditional clothing is also extremely pretty: women wear colourful dresses, beaded jewelry, face paints, big hats or scarves; traditional male clothes are loincloths, animal skins and jewelry made from feathers, shells or skins.

I am sure you can imagine that it is quite a sight walking through town on Heritage Day and admiring the beauty of South Africa’s cultures.

Ironically, on the same day I discovered a book that painted a different story and future of cultures than the one I saw all around me. Jimmy Nelson’s “Before they pass away” explores and showcases the culture or tribes around the world: From the Himba to the Maori, the Rabari to the Huli, the book gives stunning glimpses into the lives of these cultures.

 

However, when flicking through the pages and admiring the clothing, cultures and way of living, the title of the book inevitably sticks in the back of your brain “Before they pass away”. As Western culture takes over the world, jeans replace traditional dresses and we wear jewelry because we like it and not because it means something, one can indeed not help but wonder, how long these cultures will be able to sustain their way of living.

Just like South Africa’s beautiful heritage is slowly fading away and only surfacing one day a year, these cultures may soon abandon their nomadic lifestyles in harmony with nature and seek a different life in cities.

It makes you wonder what diversity we have lost – and what kind of monochrome culture lies ahead.