The Eastern Cape’s museums have received a welcome boost thanks to the development of a new twinning project. The ministries governing the Eastern Cape’s museums and those of the museums of Lower Saxony, Germany, have embarked on a long-term, cooperative exchange between the two regions.
The Eastern Cape’s museums have received a welcome boost thanks to the development of a new twinning project. The ministries governing the Eastern Cape’s museums and those of the museums of Lower Saxony, Germany, have embarked on a long-term, cooperative exchange between the two regions.
This development strengthens the existing agreement which has been sport-focused and celebrates 20 years of cooperation in 2015.
It has “sparked new hope for a brighter future for the Eastern Cape’s museums, which have been suffering atrophy due to a gradual diminishing of posts over many years,” says Dr. Helen James, a natural scientist at the Albany Museum.
Limited funding and reduced staffing in all museums has meant that museums have had neither the capital nor capacity to create new displays and engage with the public in the way expected of museums, says James.
“Often visitors see only the front-of-house view of a museum, with aging displays, and are unaware of the action behind the scenes, where dedicated staff continue to carrying out a multitude of tasks – as well as continue novel research on and curation of vast specialised collections which underpin the core function of all research museums,” she says.
The Eastern Cape museum fraternity has hopes that their museums are “entering a new, positive phase, resulting in further staff training; extra funding from many sources to help build much-needed resources, such as climate-controlled storage facilities; give renewed vision resulting in new educational displays and outreach programs, with programs to benefit all levels of society”.
A delegation of five representatives from the Department of Sport, Recreation Arts and Culture (DSRAC) and Eastern Cape Museums was hosted in Hannover, Germany, between 15 -21 May, to mark the start of this cross-cultural exchange program.
The government delegates included Bongiwe Nobongoza, General Manager: Cultural Affairs – Head Office: DSRAC and Similo Grootboom, Senior Manager: Museums and Heritage – Head Office: DSRAC.
The museums were represented by James, who also represented East London Museum and the Amathole Museum, King Williamstown; Anziske Kayster, a human scientist and Head of Museum at the Graaff-Reinet Museum; and Michelle Bradshaw, a marine biologist from Bayworld, Port Elizabeth.
Listen to a soundstory on International Museum Day held at the Albany Museum here:
