Lesotho: Voices Distant but Clear An Exhibition Proposal Kenneth Tucceri A Capstone in the Field of Museum Studies for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies Harvard University Extension School March 2021 Author’s Statement Nna ke Sir Neo Nkune. Ke lutse Ha Nkune le batho ba Lesotho, kapa Basotho, likhoeli tse 27. Ke ne ke Moithaopi oa Peace Corps. “I am Sir Neo Nkune. I lived in Ha Nkune with the people of Lesotho, or Basotho, for 27 months. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer.” While living in the rural, mountainous district of Thaba Tseka in the Kingdom of Lesotho, teaching at a small school—Ha Makōkō Primary School—immersion was paramount to the achievement of my goals. Integration is part of the Peace Corps ethos. Keep an open mind to cultural differences and never stop rising every morning with the ambition to pursue knowledge. That is how I tried to live every day, with successes and failures; confusions and clarities; soaring optimism and humbling self-doubt. Succeeding in cross-cultural competency is a difficult task. It takes resilience and an enduring curiosity. It takes patience and effort. The lows are low. But the highs are elating, gratifying, and rewarding. As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, effectively communicating the many impactful experiences I encountered has been a challenge since returning back to the U.S. in January 2020. It is difficult to explain the many dynamic moments. Experiences such as riding in an overcrowded taxi as the only non-African. Or eating ceremonial food—and sipping homemade beer—with members of the community that you have grown to know deeply. Moments in the classroom when you realize you have effectively provided clarity to one of the many illogical elements of the English language. And, of course, casually sharing stories and memories with the people of Lesotho, or Basotho, as they affectionately refer to themselves as. My failing efforts to successfully communicate these memories are a source of frustration. The recounting of my recollections—personal, beautiful, permanent in my mind—come out flat and underwhelming when I attempt to recreate them. i Born from this frustration is the idea to research methodologies that are effective in representing a narrative-driven, sensory-laden experience to individuals who are not able to spend 27 months immersed in a foreign culture. The result is an exhibition proposal titled “Lesotho: Voices Distant but Clear.” The proposal will be supported by the 27 months of Peace Corps service in Lesotho from September 2017 to November 2019. In doing so, similar tools that the Peace Corps Volunteer is encouraged to involve in their experiences—immersion, integration, collaboration, and an unwavering curiosity—will be considered to assist in creating an authentic exhibition framework for Lesotho’s narratives and histories. Through this, if successful, at the conclusion of their experience, the visitor can confidently say: Ee, ke tseba Lesotho! “Yes, I know Lesotho!” I would like to thank the community of Ha Nkune, in Lesotho, and the surrounding villages in Thaba Tseka, for providing me with the most dynamic and memorable two years of my life. I thank the leadership of the 65th Public Affairs Detachment, Massachusetts Army National Guard, for allowing me to take leave of my military responsibilities to complete my Peace Corps service, and their continued support. I thank Peter Sollogub who provided me with valuable guidance while completing this research. Lastly, I thank Kathy Burton Jones for her support and patience in assisting me in reacclimating into academia, after my time abroad, and for her invaluable assistance throughout the museum studies degree program. ii Dedicated to the Memory of Malebajoa Marriam Mokoaleli 23 July 1974 - 2 October 2020 A colleague, counterpart, teacher, and friend Robala ka Khotso Motsoalle oa Ka iii Table of Contents Author’s Statement .......................................................................................................................... i List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. v Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 The Exhibition Overview ................................................................................................................ 2 Visitor Engagement ............................................................................................................ 2 The Big Idea ........................................................................................................................ 9 Collaboration..................................................................................................................... 11 Goals ................................................................................................................................. 16 Performance Objectives .................................................................................................... 30 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 41 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix B .................................................................................................................................. 48 Works Cited .................................................................................................................................. 58 iv List of Figures Fig. 1. Conceptual Floor Plan ....................................................................................................... 47 Fig. 2. Ha Baroana Cave Painting ................................................................................................. 48 Fig. 3. Lesotho Physical Map ....................................................................................................... 49 Fig. 4. Hat ..................................................................................................................................... 50 Fig. 5. Flag of Lesotho .................................................................................................................. 51 Fig. 6. Coin ................................................................................................................................... 52 Fig. 7. Rondavel ............................................................................................................................ 53 Fig. 8. Aloe Polyphylla ................................................................................................................. 54 Fig. 9. The Spiral Aloe .................................................................................................................. 55 Fig. 10. Kharetsa ........................................................................................................................... 56 Fig. 11. Moshoeshoe I ................................................................................................................... 57 v Introduction The purpose of this research is to create a museum exhibition proposal featuring the culture of Lesotho. Many museum goers may not have the opportunity to travel or live abroad and be immersed in a foreign culture with core differences to their own way of life. Their interactions and information on distant cultures may be, if firsthand, brief and tourist centric. These experiences can do little to challenge biases, stigmas, and confusion in interpreting foreign cultural behaviors. Similar errors of cultural interpretation can also be found in the museum experience. Contemporarily, museums are increasing their efforts to address these biases in different ways. Danielle Rice, the former executive director of the Delaware Art Museum, states, “Museum educators can play an active role in contradicting what anthropologists call ‘phenomenal absolutism,’ the tendency most people have to assume that everyone else sees and thinks exactly the same way they do” (“The Cross-Cultural Mediator” 41). This exhibition proposal will pursue a framework to overcome cultural subjectivity and address institutional methodologies that lack inclusion and collaboration. The focus of this approach suggests methods that prioritize first-person narratives to create original primary-source information for responsible and authentic cultural representation in an immersive learning environment. In pursuing such methods, the desired result is to present background research and techniques to effectively exhibit foreign cultures and their distinct narratives while mitigating behaviors that can misrepresent the subject culture—in this instance, southern Africa’s Kingdom of Lesotho. 1 The Exhibition Overview Visitor Engagement Those who travel can be searching for something to awaken their emotions—an object or interaction that evokes a ritualistic feeling—within an authentic experience. Considering this intent in tourism, anthropologist Nelson Graburn states, “tourism involves for the participants a separation from normal ‘instrumental’ life and the business of making a living, and offers entry into another kind of moral state in which mental, expressive, and cultural needs come to the fore.” Graburn speaks of modal tourism (routine vacations) and rite-of-passage tourism (significant