De Hoop Nature and Marine Reserve in the Overberg region, near Cape Agulhas, is one of the largest natural areas managed by CapeNature, renowned for being on one of the best spots for land-based whale watching in South Africa.
There are many natural wonders in the world, but only a few offer such remarkable diversity as this pristine site.
William Stephens, founder of The De Hoop Collection – the first Tourism Private Public Partnership in the Western Cape that opened in De Hoop Nature Reserve in 2007 – recently stated the De Hoop Collection and CapeNature, in collaboration with the Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, the SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE) and the University of Bergen in Norway, were proud to welcome visitors to the exhibition “Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour’.
This exhibition highlights the Southern Cape coastline’s archaeological heritage and rich marine environment, and showcases the unique archaeological discoveries that have been made at the archaeological sites Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River, occupied by early homo sapiens 120 000 to 50 000 years ago.
It is described as the culmination of Craig Foster (co-founder of the Sea Change Project, the producers of the Oscar- and Bafta-winning documentary, My Octopus Teacher) and Damon Foster’s lifelong passion and commitment to documenting human origins and indigenous wisdom as decades of archaeological research in the Southern Cape by SapienCE scientists Professor Christopher Henshilwood, Dr Karen van Niekerk, Professor Sarah Wurz and their research teams.
It first opened in 2018 at Spier Wine Estate. Various exhibits followed, including by Iziko South African Museum (2019 -2021). The De Hoop Collection’s Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour exhibition opened on 18 January.
The De Hoop Collection exhibition has been curated by Craig Foster and archaeologist Petro Keene and will be managed and maintained for an initial three year period by the De Hoop Collection team.
“The exhibition at De Hoop Collection will offer visitors and learners the opportunity to enhance their cultural experiences of South Africa,” said Stephens. “The ‘We Are All One’ message features strongly throughout the exhibition, pointing to the clear genetic evidence that all Homo sapiens have their origins in Africa.
“We are grateful to Sea Change Project for its support of the SapienCE palaeoscience team with its custom developed content and media, and a special vote of thanks to Foster Brother Film Productions’ Damon and Craig Foster for so generously donating film footage and photographic images that span over 20 years.”