On December 13, photo of a Jewish cemetery, taken by the famous South African photographer David Godlblatt (born in 1930), was presented to the Vilna Gaon State Jewish museum. The gift was organised by the museum’s art historian, Karina Simonson, who is curating heritage and cultural links with South African Litvak community. The photograph was brought to Lithuania by the coordinator of the digitalization center at the Mayibuye archive, Stanley Sello. The Mayibuye archive collects information about the South African culture and society during the apartheid as well as about the people who fought against it, including many Litvaks, i.e. Jews of the Lithuanian origin. The archive contains more than 100.000 photos, 10.000 films and video recordings, many posters, historical documents and other artefacts.

The director of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, Markas Zingeris, welcomed the representative of the archive, who spoke about the contemporary South African society and the place of the Jewish community within it. During the meeting, the photography taken by D. Goldblatt and donated to the museum, was unwrapped. Lots of photos of D. Goldblatt are dealing with the daily life during the apartheid. The roots of the worldwide known photographer are in Papilė, Lithuania. In August, 2015, he visited museum‘s Tolerance center and spoke to the local audience. In May, 2017 a presentation of the donated photography and a lecture about South African photographers of Litvak origin will be held.

In order to effectively share information and ensure its publicity, a cooperation agreement between the Vilna Gaon State Jewish museum and the Mayibuye archive will be signed in the near future.