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From left: Dr Chiara Turci from Casa delle Culture, Professor Magda Minguzzi, Chief Zenzile KhoiSan, Advocate Federica Moschini of the Municipality of Ravenna and Chief Margaret Coetzee.
The Municipality of Ravenna, Italy, invited Prof Minguzzi as keynote speaker at the 18th “Festival delle Culture 2025: Beyond the Conflict”, together with two First Nation Chiefs collaborating with her at the School of Architecture.
Prof Minguzzi presented her research projects in partnership with the First Indigenous Peoples of South Africa, which received support and endorsement from several significant institutions, including the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF), where Professor Minguzzi is a Rated Researcher.
Other support includes the Oxford Brookes University Endangered Wooden Architecture Programme (EWAP), the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordination Committee (IPACC), and the International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management (ICOMOS-ICAHM).
The Municipality representatives found the research projects particularly relevant because of their support to the Indigenous communities to reconnect with their tangible and intangible heritage and to re-write their story and narratives.
Consequently, they invited the South African team to contribute to two events at the festival, including the screening of their documentary entitled “ORIGIN: KhoiSan heritage sites and sense of belonging”.
This documentary shares the views of the 10 Chiefs part of the Indigenous Knowledge System of the Built Environment Unit’s group, recorded in their territory of custodianship. It is also the first time that the KhoiSan Leaders could freely express their opinions and views on the meaning of sense of belonging and indigenous heritage in the South African context today.
The full version of these video and audio interviews recorded in 2022, have been transcribed by Prof Minguzzi under the Chief's guidance and will soon be published in a book by Mandela University Press-MUP.
The Municipality of Alfonsine’s Arts and Culture Department also invited the team to present and screen the documentary to their community.
Chiefs Zenzile KhoiSan and Margaret Coetzee presenting at the conference at the University of Bologna, Ravenna section.
Both Chief KhoiSan, a journalist and international expert on human rights, and Chief Coetzee, who began the collaboration with Prof Minguzzi in 2014, presented at the conferences.
Chief KhoiSan focused especially on the historical and contemporary indigenous struggle for land rights among the First Nations and highlighted successful land claim projects regarding territories that were dispossessed first after the arrival of the settlers' colonists.
Chief Coetzee shared a powerful poem she composed and conveyed a message from the Indigenous leaders, emphasising the importance of the younger generation, becoming custodians of Mother Earth and its resources.
“The chiefs shared the richness of Khoisan traditions and the depth of their cultural and spiritual knowledge, and built a bridge between Africa and Italy, fostering a profound intercultural exchange with the city of Ravenna.
Their presence enriched the festival with moments of authentic sharing, highlighting the vital importance of preserving and celebrating indigenous cultures,” the Municipality said.
The team was also taken by Ibtissem Beldi, a member of the Festival organising committee on a tour of the city of Ravenna and they were constantly in awe of the Italian architecture, including visiting Dante’s tomb for the first time, a profound moment.
Chief Zenzile KhoiSan in front of Dante Alighieri’s tomb.
“The event was an incredible opportunity for the city of Ravenna to question what it means to be an intercultural society; one that respects the dignity and expression of every culture, while also recognising the dynamics of colonisation and discrimination that have been and still are part of human History, to be able to face the present with awareness and clarity and to be able to build a more just future”, the Municipality of Ravenna said.
The invitation to present at the “Festival delle Culture” held special significance for the South African group and was viewed by the group as a historic moment.
The team’s research on Indigenous heritage and knowledge is currently hosted at the newly established Indigenous Knowledge Systems of the Built Environment UNIT-IKSBEU at the School of Architecture.
It is coordinated by Prof Minguzzi and composed by several School of Architecture scholars -including the long-term collaborator Lucy Vosloo - and the KhoiSan Chiefs at national levels.