Slide 01: Iziko briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Arts & Culture

Thank you, Chair, for the opportunity to brief the Portfolio Committee on some of the work done by Iziko Museums of Cape Town as an amalgamated national museum institution.

The fax received on Thursday afternoon last week caught us somewhat by surprise. It was an unexpected request to me for "a briefing on the overseas exhibition on the post-1994 era that reflects the history of South African democracy". As Iziko did not host any overseas exhibitions on this subject, we assume that you were referring to two special exhibitions held by Iziko in Cape Town last year marking the tenth anniversary of our nation’s democracy. Both of these exhibitions, which gave substance to Iziko’s transformation objectives, also attracted attention overseas.

The one was an art exhibition at Iziko National Gallery, called ‘A Decade of Democracy: South African Art 1994-2004’. All artworks on this exhibition were drawn from our permanent holdings and collectively showcased art that was produced in South Africa between 1994 and 2004, and was acquired by Iziko South African National Gallery during that period.

The better known exhibition reflecting the history of South African democracy, was undoubtedly ‘Democracy X - marking the present; re-presenting the past’ held at the Castle from April 2004 to end of March 2005. This commemorative exhibition, sponsored partly by DAC, was accompanied by a brochure in the 3 languages of the Western Cape, an education workbook for learners and educators, and a catalogue, sponsored by the Royal Dutch Embassy, with 32 contributing authors, including Pallo Jordan, Minister of Arts and Culture. A documentary video of the entire exhibition was produced as a lasting record of the project.

The most distinguished of more than 60 000 visitors who saw Democracy X were the President and Mrs Mbeki, who spent over an hour of their holiday time in late December looking at the exhibition. Their comments in the visitors’ book serve as an inspiration for the task ahead, as do their appreciative remarks after spending two hours at Iziko SA Museum on the previous day.

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Democracy X commemorated ten years of democracy by tracing the long history of human creativity in southern Africa.

It used significant artefacts to present an inclusive narrative of the past, and allowed different voices to be heard – in so doing it contributed to nation-building and social cohesion, acknowledged the roles of women and provided educational resources for young learners and teachers. The interactive installation at the end of the exhibition invited visitors to cast their votes on issues of current social importance thus encouraging active participation in sustaining the principle and practice of democracy.

Iziko received an award from the Western Cape Government for this exhibition and it was rated by the British Royal Academy Magazine as one of the 15 best exhibitions in the world last year.

These two special exhibitions were produced within the context of the first strategic objective of Iziko, namely to drive the transformation process according to national guidelines. Key transformation issues addressed in the fiscal year 2004/2005 included improving funding for transformation, addressing employment equity issues, and improving and refurbishing Iziko sites. Transformation funding received from DAC enabled us to bring the history of slavery into the public domain and create a platform for acknowledging the roles of slaves in the shaping of South African society. Our projects in this regard are:

• Orientation auditorium and video at the Slave Lodge
• Audio-guides tour at the Slave Lodge
• Iziko Orientation Centre at Groot Constantia
• Project to locate the slave-ship Meermin and website set up www.meermin.org

The Slave Lodge Memory Centre planned for 2005 will encourage community participation, as well as providing an educational resource for young learners.

Delivery on these and other projects is closely linked to our second strategic objective, namely improving and broadening access to Iziko Museums of Cape Town. Our challenge is to invite all people to experience and enjoy our diverse cultural and natural heritage. Significant progress in this regard was reflected in the fact that Iziko received almost half a million visitors the past financial year, a 13% increase on the previous year.

In addition, other exhibitions that contributed to the increase in attendance were the 16 exhibitions of the Art Division. Among these was ‘Ilifa Labantu Heritage of the People’ which displayed a selection of African art acquired within our democracy.

Exhibitions at Iziko SA Museum that impressed the President and the First Lady were ‘!Qe – The Power of Rock Art’, and SharkWorld. ‘!Qe – The Power of Rock Art’ exhibition was chosen by the Khoi-San people of Southern Africa as the venue to celebrate the end of the UNESCO Decade for Indigenous People, on 12 December 2004. The Khoi-San organizers of this event regarded this Iziko exhibition as an important affirmation of their cultural heritage.

Iziko Museums of Cape Town also collaborated with other communities, including the Muslim community of the Bo-Kaap. Public programmes at the Bo-Kaap Museum focused on building community relations and involving the local community in Iziko projects. A gender-focused project addressing the identities of Islamic women resulted in an exhibition at the Bo-Kaap Museum on Women’s Day 2005.

Iziko’s collections were showcased internationally at Expo 2005 in Japan and at the Australian National Museum material from our Khoi-San collection.

As another key strategic objective, Iziko Museums of Cape Town is mandated to build, care for and interpret these collections. Over 1.3 million accessioned objects in Iziko collections form a vital part of the tangible heritage of the nation, excluding excavated archaeological material.

• Conservation of Collections: Generous funding of R43 million was provided by the DPW for the refurbishment of the Iziko National Mutual Building on Church Square. This will enable the valuable Social History collections to be conserved according to best museological practice. In addition, funding of R800 000 was obtained from DPW for storage systems in the basement of Iziko Museums of Cape Town.

• New Acquisitions: Acquisitions Policies were developed for Art, Social History and Natural History Collections during 2004. Emphasis was given to purchases that correct historical imbalances and gaps in the collections.

• Research on Collections: Five of the seven Natural History scientists working in the fields of Life & Earth Sciences are National Research Foundation (NRF) rated. Progress in terms of skills development has seen the appointment of a black Trainee Scientist in Entomology.

• Research Publications: New natural history journal called "African Natural History" will be launched in September 2005.
• Staff Publications: CEO: 3, Art Division: 6, Social History: 12

Another key strategic goal is to unlock the educational potential of Iziko and promote and innovatively showcase our arts, culture and natural history. The Iziko Mobile Museum has been operating from April 2005 in the Western Cape.

SA National Gallery was ‘wrapped’ in a red ribbon by Aids NGO Wola Nani on International Aids Day.

Iziko continually strives to achieve service excellence As from 01 August a new executive management team with two executive directors, a CEO,a Director of Institutional Advancement in the Office of the CEO and the CFO is in place.

Ensuring financial viability is a critical imperative. Whilst Iziko has been successful in raising project funding, regrettably a steadily decreasing government grant (in real terms) has prevented it from keeping the salary budget within 75% of the subsidy.