Sacred Ground

Shifting the Zulu Ancestral Home

Asanda Dube

BArch Hons 2021

Supervisors:
Unit Leader: Thireshen Govender
Unit Leader: Jiaxin Gong
Unit Tutor: Sarah Harding

UNIT 14^︎︎︎
Rogue Economies - Trade Roots: HOME

My Major Design Project entitled 'Sacred Ground: Shifting the Zulu Ancestral Home', looks at whether the Zulu ancestral home could exist outside of the Zulu family's homestead and the possibilities to locate the ancestral ground within an urban site such as Johannesburg. The intentions to untether the ancestral home from the homestead is to engage with the challenges that come with the need to return home should the need arise. This often in times of major life changes or events such as birth, coming of age, marriage and death and other times when guidance is needed from the ancestors. Given the conditions of a globalising world and the ease at which we move and travel long distances due to personal, professional, political and economic demands, it proves challenging to return home to present oneself before the ancestors in times of need.

The traditional practices of the Zulu people are confined to rural areas as they are where many Zulu homesteads were established. As a result, Zulu people have had to alter and compromise when performing these traditional ceremonies within these sites so as to not offend or cause tension with other cultures through the practices and rituals which may be seen as offensive. However, this project does not seek to compromise as a means to appease all of the other cultures in its surrounding, instead it seeks to propose an ancestral ground within the urban context that draws from the values of the Zulu ancestors, while allowing other cultures to engage should they wish.

Keywords:
Home, Ancestral, Tradition, Sacred

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