Phansi Museum plans to go digital in 2021

WITH financial and Covid-19 constraints, Ubuntu Phansi Museum in Glenwood is going digital.

Similo Gobingca, the writer and video editor at the museum, said they are working on digitising the museum to bring the experience of Phansi to people’s homes.

“We are not a typical museum where you walk in and look at a tag (with a long description), we give you a tour, tell you stories and tell you things about every aspect of the artifacts. We are a feel good museum, you can walk in here and touch and feel stuff,” he said. Gobingca said they are working on bringing that ‘feel good’ experience to an online exhibition.

ALSO READ: Phansi Museum offers tours, classes

He said they have applied for funding at various organisations and are also embarking on a couple of fundraising initiatives.

Currently the museum is closed for walk-ins and is open for group bookings with a limited capacity.

“We can’t be fully operational because of funds. I think all museums are suffering right now,” said Gobingca.

The museum has secured two local resident artists in Ntombi Langa and Phumlani Mnyawo who deal in making musical and pottery artifacts respectively.

Mnyawo is a self-taught pottery maker. He refined his skills at the BAT centre in the early 2000s and wants to share his insight with the community through his classes. “Clay is an important part of IsiZulu culture but it also gives us a viewpoint into how our ancestors lived and the tools they used to make pots, cups and ukhamba, which is nothing like what we have now,” said Mnyawo.

Phumzile Nkosi is curating an exhibition of pots, some dating back to the 1960s. “The collection is educational especially to the young generation, so they can see how we used to live.”

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