18 May 2006
Programme Director
Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen
Thank you very much for inviting me to the occasion of celebrating the
International Museum Day. I feel very honoured to have been asked to deliver a
speech at such an important function.
The theme for this year's celebrations is "Museums and Young People". I am
therefore happy that there is a good representation of the targeted audience
the youth in this function here today.
This year's theme was selected deliberately to raise the awareness of our
young people so that they could participate in redefining the mission and
practices of heritage institutions in the 21st century.
This awareness programme seeks to demonstrate the contribution of museums in
shaping tomorrow's society by interacting with the youth- the future of all
nations in the world.
The Worcester Museum is hosting the "Auntiesâ a group of 12 women from the
Cape Winelands who have made special contributions to the development of their
communities.
As the term implies, these are elderly women who are willing to share their
life's experiences with young people in order to keep the stories of the
struggle alive. This "Aunties" project was initiated by the Cape Winelands
District Municipality and originally formed part of the "Freedom Route" a
Heritage tourism experience.
It is therefore fitting to pay a special tribute to these women for their
resolve to contribute to nation building because they are demonstrating to the
youth how they lived, the struggles they fought. This demonstration could not
be more relevant, as we are ceased with the yearlong celebrations of the 50th
Anniversary for Women march.
Last Saturday, we had jointly organised a Consultative Conference on
heritage with the National Heritage Council at the Waterfront, where delegates
complained bitterly about the lack of suitable qualified professionals from the
disadvantaged communities in the heritage sector.
This is a major stumbling block in our efforts as government to transform
the heritage sector including the Museum Services.
This is therefore a challenge to the youth in particular those still at
school to consider pursuing their careers in the field of management of
heritage resources. At the same conference, it was felt strongly that present
curriculum at schools should be revised to incorporate studies at high school
level so as to trigger that desired interest from the designated groups.
I want to take advantage of this platform to applaud the Museum Services for
being somewhat pro-active in this regard. Through our curriculum based
educational programmes we had exposed about 350 000 learners to 28 affiliated
museums across the province.
We also intend appointing an Education Officer during this financial year to
present school activities and youth programmes at our museums. Through this
initiative, we hope to enhance the educational aspect in our museums for the
youth to see their relevance in the society.
In so doing, we are also empowering the youth to play an active role in
shaping and determining the future of museums through their direct involvement
in the sector.
The Beaufort West Museum will be hosting family history workshops. Local
schools have been invited to the Museum for workshops on family history and
learners will endeavour to make the intangible, tangible. High school learners
will also debate the concept of heritage.
Therefore the youth of the Karoo in particular have a unique opportunity to
reconfigure the Beaufort West Museum this year.
The department is providing an opportunity for this community to ensure that
the Beaufort West Museum is turned into an institution that can serve all the
people of the Karoo.
We are beginning to take practical steps to ensure that people are afforded
a chance to identify with museums in their communities and importantly have a
sense of self belonging.
The youth constitute a new generation of museum professionals and therefore
they must start playing an active role in ensuring the envisaged new-look
museums were reflective of the present society in terms of ethical and cultural
practices.
One of the huge challenges of most museums in the post apartheid South
Africa is the democratisation of the museum collections that reflect the
diversity of the country. Even in this day and age, we are still seeing a
blatant bias towards the colonial history and this picture can only be changed
if the youth were active participants in the collection of relevant
materials.
Time is now for all of us especially our youth to stop complaining about the
past and grab the opportunities presented to ensure redress. We want our
museums to enjoy the support of their communities and for this reason we will
strive to make them accessible and relevant to the communities they serve.
We remain committed in our resolve to make museums relevant to the people of
the Western Cape. In this regard Museum Services will create spaces for new
histories especially in geographical areas that have not had access to museums
services before.
The International Museum Day we are celebrating here today is a reminder to
the youth and the community to use the resources of museums to promote their
cultural events and exhibit their crafts and begin to contribute to cultural
tourism and the economy of the province.
We all know that a community's heritage is part of its identity. And, it is
through collections that museums can address the issues of diversity and
inclusiveness, redress the imbalances of the past and promote a sense of common
identity and ownership of the heritage.
A vehicle to achieve these was provided when the Department piloted the
Scrapbook project as part of the Oral History at Caledon in the Overberg region
late last year. This project was a great success.
It gave communities for the first time an opportunity to tell stories about
themselves, their family trees, where they come from, how they landed there and
so on.
The Department is now rolling out this project to the entire province and I
would be happy to see the youth recording their own stories for their future
generations. In celebrating this day, I wish to reiterate my call for our youth
to consider careers in the heritage sector and help us transform this
sector.
I hope the rich cultural display you witnessed here today will inspire all
of you to do more to reflect your own cultural assets for your future
generations and that you will take the challenges I have highlighted seriously.
I thank you.
Enquiries
Mandla Yeki
Spokesperson for Ministry
Cultural Affairs, Sport and Recreation
Tel: (021) 483 9804
Fax: (021) 483 9801
Cell: 082 553 3477
Issued by: Sport And Cultural Affairs, Western Cape Provincial
Government
18 May 2006
