Madam President, members of this learned society, honoured guests, colleagues and friends,

Over the years I have come to appreciate that working in the field of Heritage and Culture Conservation offers the intrepid researcher endless opportunities for adventure and self discovery. Above all it opens up the opportunity for making friends in communities that are beyond our imagined horizons. In my travels I have been fortunate to meet men and women of all walks of life who have opened up their homes and families to me, and shared their thoughts, cultures, values, and even fears at a time when our communities appeared to be irrevocably separated. These are friendships which I value and, I am glad to say, many survive to the present day. 

Which is why, when news of this award reached me, I was overcome by a sense of pride. Over the years my travels have taken me to the grass dwellings of kwaZulu, the feather palaces of Oudtshoorn, the hillside villages of Venda and the corrugated iron dwellings of Crossroads, the brakdak huise of Nieu Bethesda, the kerk-plaats of the Karoo and the polychromatic painted walls of the Ndebele. Throughout it all I have learnt that their builders share in a common humanity, and in a pride of identity that labels them all as being proudly South African. 

Thus when you honour me with this medal, Madam President, it is my belief that you honour the diversity that makes all of us South Africans. These are the builders of this country, and the creators of this mosaic. I have merely documented the wealth that is theirs, and I share this award with each and every one of them. 

I also felt a sense of pride when I learnt that the list of previous recipients of this award included such names as Philip Tobias, Hannes Meiring, Gawie Fagan, Herbert Prins, Hans Fransen, Teddy Whitlock and James Walton, all of them good friends who have played an important role in my intellectual development and who I miss dearly. To this list I would like to add Victor Papanek, Doreen Greig, Barrie Bierman, Dennis Radford, Pancho Guedes, Tom Huffman, Marilyn Martin, Fabio Todeschini and Richard Tshivhase, all of them now gone. For me this has not been an award ceremony but a happy reunion.

One person who, I am happy to say, is still with me, is my wife Lesley who, with my daughter Gabriella, have been the foundations of my world. They have been my ever-present guardians against pompous phrases and hanging participles and I owe more to them than can ever be stated. 

Finally I wish to make reference to the award we celebrate here tonight. Sadly the passing of time has a habit of making some customs and traditions grow a little tired and weary. Not so for the Heritage Association of South Africa, whose gold medal remains one of the acknowledged standards of excellence in the field of culture and heritage conservation, and I wish its Committee all good fortune in their future endeavors.