Kgatleng District: Pottery, Dikopelo and Weaving

Cultural highlights in Kgatleng District include the pottery of the women of the Bakgatla ba Kgafela, the folk music Dikopelo and the Oodi Weaving Project. These three areas showcase different forms of craftsmanship and artistic expression: working with clay, singing with choreographed dance, and wool textiles with geometric patterns.

Pottery and Dikopelo

The women of the Bakgatla ba Kgafela make pottery in Kgatleng District from clay, weathered sandstone, iron oxide, cow dung, water, wood and grass. The range of materials therefore extends beyond clay and stone. These materials are among the specific details of this pottery practice, which UNESCO says is in urgent need of safeguarding. For travellers interested in traditional crafts, the pottery offers a distinct cultural point of interest in the district.

Dikopelo, the folk music of the Bakgatla ba Kgafela, combines vocal singing with choreographed dance and has no instrumental accompaniment. Voice and movement go together here; unlike pottery, the focus is not on working with materials, but on a musical form. Safeguarding this practice is also an issue: UNESCO describes the viability of Dikopelo as low.

Wool products from Oodi

The Oodi Weaving Project makes wool products such as bedspreads, table runners, mats and bags. The wool is hand-spun and dyed locally, and the products feature traditional geometric patterns. This example offers a chance to consider both the craftwork involved in processing the material and the design of the finished goods. The range of items—from textiles for tables or floors to bags—gives a concrete overview of the products made, without limiting the subject to just one type of woven item.

Together with pottery and Dikopelo, weaving forms a distinct cultural highlight to consider when planning a trip to Kgatleng District. These are three clearly different forms of expression: pottery made from a diverse range of materials, vocal music with choreographed dance, and hand-spun and dyed wool products. Visitors interested in regional culture and crafts can explore each of these subjects separately.

Botswana in the wider travel picture

The wider destination of Botswana includes other distinct landscapes and cultural regions that are part of the country’s travel scene. The Okavango Delta lies in northwestern Botswana and is a large, gently sloping alluvial fan, also known as an inland delta. The World Heritage site covers most of the delta, as well as more than two million hectares of largely undisturbed wetlands and seasonally flooded grasslands. The Okavango Delta is one of the few large inland deltas that do not drain into the sea; its water seeps into the desert sands of the Kalahari Basin.

Top activities in the Okavango Delta include game drives and speedboat rides. These represent different types of activities within the Botswana context. The delta also features a variety of habitats, including rivers and lagoons with year-round or seasonal water, permanent swamps, seasonally and occasionally flooded grasslands, riverine forests, dry deciduous forests and island communities. Species living there include cheetahs, white and black rhinos, African wild dogs and lions.

The Tsodilo Hills form a different landscape and cultural region: massive quartzite rock formations in northwestern Botswana near the Namibian border. They lie between ancient sand dunes to the east and a dry fossil lakebed to the west in the Kalahari. Their shelters and caves contain extensive rock paintings, which apparently date from the Stone Age to the 19th century; they have not been precisely dated. Tsodilo preserves archaeological evidence, rock art and continuing traditions that document the development of human culture and the relationship between people and nature over many millennia. The Hambukushu and San communities revere the water sources and hills as a sacred cultural landscape.

Discover more destinations: Kgatleng, Central District, Southern, Ghanzi District, South-East, North-East District, Northwest, Kgalagadi District.

For the full travel overview: Botswana.