[Source - Nessa Leibhammer for FHYA, 2017, using materials from JAG and Brodie: Mordechai Brodie was an avid collector of objects of material culture from southern Africa. Starting in 1979, he began traveling in Swaziland and Natal, and later in the whole of southern Africa, collecting 'traditional' pieces. He owned a shop called African Magic, which opened in 1982, and operated in the 1980s and early 1990s, where he sold these items, many of which he collected himself. His intent was to find, appreciate, and value the producers of all types of art and craft in southern Africa, attempting to move away from the idea of African craft as 'curios', and ensuring that significant items of material culture stayed in southern Africa, and were made available to the public. To this end he supplied many pieces from his collection to a number of public institutions and public collections, such as the University of Witwatersrand, the Afrikaner Museum, the National Gallery in Cape Town, the Johannesburg National Gallery, and the Killie Campbell Africana Library.]