GLENWOOD’S Phansi Museum launched an online project in collaboration with Google Arts and Culture on Friday, September 23.
The project, entitled ‘I Am Because You Are: A Celebration of South African Creativity’, brings one of Africa’s biggest traditional art collections housed at the Phansi museum, online for the first time.
The public can now access, explore and discover the stories behind the museum through immersive tours and curated online exhibits, especially as South Africans mark Heritage Day this weekend.
The online collaboration is with the Phansi Museum and eight other institutions across South Africa.
Amit Sood, Director of Google Arts and Culture, said this is the largest collection in South Africa, bringing online more than 5 000 artifacts for the first time.
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“I hope art lovers, not only in South Africa, but also around the world, will join the celebration to discover and explore the rich traditions and cultural wealth of this nation using our newly created platform,” he added.
Phansi Museum was founded by Paul Mikula, who, for many years, travelled the world, collecting artefacts.
“It has been a long journey to get this project to this point. For three of those years, I have been working with Google, and we are proud to be partners. We hope this will allow our work to be seen and enjoyed by Africans in the diaspora but also by the world at large,” he said.
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Dr Alistair Mokoena, country director for Google South Africa, added that their best art-camera and street-view technology was put to use in this project.
“Our goal has always been to bring the world’s culture online for everyone – allowing individuals to experience it in new ways. This project has been three years in the making, and we are thrilled to be able to bring over 5 000 high-resolution images, five museum views and 10 online exhibits digitally, to the public,” he said.
The project includes new stories from the University of Pretoria, which celebrate South African women, eight new virtual tours from South African Tourism and Johannesburg Art Gallery, and expertly curated stories from some of South Africa’s most important museums, institutions and platforms, including the Origins Centre and Social Fabric.
Visit the website to see more : Google Arts & Culture
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