Visit Irene Farm, the Farm within the City
A dairy farm nestled between Johannesburg and Pretoria, Irene carries a rich history, yet is a functional economic contributor to the city. The farm is still owned by the family that purchased it over...
Category: Heritage
South Africa is home to diverse cultures and long histories. We honour this heritage and look at how it is being kept alive. This is also the home of ‘Museo Me’ which celebrates the best of local museums and engages with heritage debates around the world.
Book Review: ‘Land of my Ancestors’
With Land of my Ancestors, Botlhale Tema writes a riveting story about two young men and how they came to settle in the village of Welgeval. This book is a beautiful rendition of what...
Visit the Vredefort Dome: The Heritage that Started with a Bang!
September is the month when we South Africans celebrate our country’s heritage. There are various heritage sites across the country: some monuments and other natural sites. One of the sites we can visit is...
International Museum Day Events in Cape Town
Every year, 18 May is celebrated around the world as International Museum Day. In Cape Town, a number of museums are offering special events to mark the day. What is International Museum Day? The...
Youth in the Museum: Looking to the Future Museum
In the second of a two-part series, young people articulate their vision for the future of museums. When it comes to learning about heritage, youths don’t feel the need to engage much with museums. They explain why, as well as what their ideal museum — one that they would more readily engage with — would look like.
Forging the Future Simon’s Town Museum in the Fire
Despite funding shortages and the isolation of social distancing, the Simon’s Town Museum’s community-building work is making a positive impact on the Cape Flats. Education officer Tazneem Wentzel talks about the future of institutions that trade in the past.
Youth in the Museum: Meeting the Museum
In the first of a two-part series, young people — often a target demographic of museum policies — talk about how they’ve experienced museums and the social influences that make them visit these spaces. They explain why museums are relevant — and why they don’t often visit them.
An Intimate Encounter with Virtual Sculptures
When the pandemic wrecked plans to exhibit Basotho artist Samuele Makoanyane’s sculptures, the curators made an exhibition of the future from these 20th-century figurines. KE LIHA PENE – I lay down my pen is the latest virtual exhibition hosted on the Iziko Museums websites.
Me in the Museum
Museo Me is a product of my young lifetime’s engagements with museums at home and abroad. The museum is something associated with school, with history and with being educated. But it can be more than that. I want our museums to amuse and engage us, with reflection but also with fun. In these five memories and one absent memory (since museums are so much about pondering the past), I’ll tell you why.