The Reimagining Heritage, Archives and Museums: Today/Tomorrow convening took place from 13th to 15th February 2024 at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town.
One of the central discussions of this international multi-stakeholder convening was titled Reimagining Museums and Cultural Institutions for a New Era. It was moderated by convening co-curator Ngaire Blankenberg (Founding Director of the Institute for Creative Repair), and included panellists Professor Carolyn Hamilton (South African Research Chair in Archive and Public Culture Historical Studies, University of Cape Town), Storm Janse van Rensburg (Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs at Zeitz MOCAA), Lekgetho Makola (Chief Executive Officer at Javett Art Centre, University of Pretoria), Steve Kwena Mokwena (Curator at the Robben Island Museum, Heritage Department; Founder and Curator of the Afrikan Freedom Station, Albie Sachs (Activist, Writer and Former Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa) and Sophia Sanan (Educator, Writer, Thinker, Research Consultant and Project Manager for Museum Futures Africa).
The main discussion points were on the present state of museums and cultural institutions, the makings of an “African museum”, Africa on the global cultural stage, heritage and modernity, spirituality, accessibility, and digitisation, just to name a few. The objective was to evaluate and reimagine viable ways of addressing the challenges facing the sector today for the betterment of tomorrow.
Watch the full discussion below to look at how the panel tackles this subject matter and its impacts in Africa, the African diaspora, and beyond.
