Muni celebrates International Museums Day
Residents recently had the opportunity to visit four museums in the city where special programmes were offered to celebrate International Museums Day. This year’s theme was “Museums and the Cultural Landscape” and open nights were held at the Art Museum, Irish House, Hugh Exton Photographic Museum and Bakone Malapa Open-Air Museum. Liesl Stegmann, Curator of …
Residents recently had the opportunity to visit four museums in the city where special programmes were offered to celebrate International Museums Day.
This year’s theme was “Museums and the Cultural Landscape” and open nights were held at the Art Museum, Irish House, Hugh Exton Photographic Museum and Bakone Malapa Open-Air Museum.
Liesl Stegmann, Curator of Bakone Malapa Open-Air Museum informed that the events during the evenings were planned to allow working members of the community to attend and bring their children along. “This would get them away from the TV and enjoy an ‘edu-taining’ evening and speak to each other,” Stegmann said.
At the Art Museum works of art from the municipal collection that hadn’t been on display for a while and that specifically depicted landscapes, were exhibited.
A tour through Irish House and the Hugh Exton Photographic Museum took place.
“I decided to offer a combined tour through Hugh Exton and Irish House. It was planned to re-photograph some of the streetscapes as Hugh Exton had done, however due to increased development it was not possible. Prominent buildings were however photographed and contrasted with images from Polokwane’s past, to show the changing cultural landscape from a small dusty northern town to a vibrant bustling city of the 21st century,” Stegmann explained. The tour started at Irish House with a temporary exhibit highlighting the changes between the historical Polokwane and modern Polokwane and then crossed through the park to Hugh Exton, highlighting the changes the park had undergone through time.
Finally the visitor was transported back to the early days of Polokwane through the Exton Collection.
The events of the week culminated with a sunset tour hike up the mountain with 1st Polokwane Cubs and Scouts joining in, followed by traditional dance, food and beer tasting.
According to Stegmann, the evening was extremely well supported and children got to enjoy the new Discovery Room, where activities and games allowed for hands-on learning about heritage and the natural environment that children could use for school project research.
Story: BARRY VILJOEN
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Featured photo: Bonang Chuene, Seja Phala, Reabetswe Chuene, Lesego Mphahlele and Lebogang Leshilo hit the drums at Bakone Malapa.
