
=====================================================================
Official renaming ceremony of Amathole Museum
=====================================================================

Speeches and Media Releases
 Sports, Arts Culture

[         w

 EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
 SPEECH BY DEPUTY PERMANENT SECRETARY, MR Z. MAKINA
 OFFICIAL RENAMING CEREMONY OF AMATHOLE MUSEUM
 INTERNATIONAL MUSEUMS DAY,
 18 MAY 1999

INTRODUCTION

It gives me great pleasure to be here today, at this important occasions, on this significant date.As you all know,today is International 
Museums Day.This is a day when, throughout the world, attention is focussed on museums and their role in society.This year International 
Museums Day in King Williams Town has a special relevance, because we are all gathered here for the official renaming ceremony of the 
Amathole Museum.This is a significant symbolic step in the transformation of our museums and, indeed, of our society.

BACKGROUND

The museum in King Williams Town was originally established in 1884, as the King Williams Town Naturalists Society.It grew very rapidly 
and soon obtained funding from the government of the Cape Colony to erect a special building to house its collections.This building, the 
Natural History Building in Albert Road, was opened in 1898.Over the years, the King Williams Town Museum grew and developed.It rapidly 
acquired an international reputation for its large mammal collection, the Shortridge Mammal Collection, which was an important resource for 
scientific research. As the museum grew, it acquired additional buildings and staff.By the time the museum celebrated its centenary in 
1984, it was one of the leading provincial museums in the country.In the process the museum name changed from the King Williams Town 
Museum to the Kaffrarian Museum in the 1920s.

In 1994 the museum embraced transformation and the then museum head, Mr Pierre Swanepoel, played a significant part in the transition from 
the old Cape Provincial Administration to the new Eastern Cape Provincial government. The museum formed part of the Directorate of Museums 
and Heritage Resources, along with fourteen other museums, in what is now the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture

Since 1994, the Directorate has formulated and steadily implemented a transformation strategy designed to transform these institutions into 
museums which would truly serve all the people of the Eastern Cape, redress imbalances in museum programmes and ensure that museum services 
were accessible to all. Key areas were identified for specific interventions.These included:

* making the staffing structure of museums more representative
* democratising the Boards of Trustees
* broadening the various programmes (exhibitions, research, collections and education)
* changing the management styles in museums
* improving labour relations in museums
* improving community relations, and
* introducing name changes where appropriate.

It was clear to us that the name of the Kaffrarian Museum, in particular, needed to be transformed.

PROCESS OF CHANGE

The Board of Trustees and the management of the museum, under the direction of the Directorate of Museums and Heritage Resources, embarked 
on a process of consultation in 1996 to ascertain public opinion on the matter and to obtain suggestions as to appropriate manes to replace 
the word, Kaffrarian.

Several alternatives were put forward.These included Amathole Museum, Bisho Museum, Eastern Cape Museum, King Williams Town Museum, 
Huberta Museum, eQonce Museum, and the Shai Museum.Members of the community were asked to comment in the local press and at the museum.

After due consideration, the Board of Trustees decided on the Amathole Museum, which was sent to the provincial government for 
ratification.It is important, ladies and gentlemen, to know why the provincial government accepted this name.Amongst the reasons were the 
following:

* It is an indigenous name and indicates the museums commitment to becoming an African museum and playing its part in the African 
Renaissance.
* It is a name that is associated with the magnificent mountain range which dominates this part of the province and from which the Xhosa 
resisted the advance of colonialism in the nineteenth century.
* It is a name with which all language groups can identify and can pronounce.

ROLE OF MUSEUMS AND A CHALLENGE

Transformation, ladies and gentlemen, is not an event, it is a process.Events like this can serve as milestones along the way to creating a 
better society, but they are not ends in themselves.As a provincial Department of Sport, Arts and Culture responsible for administering 
museums, we are mindful of the progress that has been made in transforming our museums.But we are also aware that a lot more still needs to 
be done.I would like to assure you that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture fully appreciates the role that museums can play in 
nation building, in promoting reconciliation, in helping communities understand their relationship with the natural and cultural 
environment, and in stimulating economic development through tourism.We are proud of the role played by our museums in furthering the 
frontiers of knowledge through research and education.These contributions will continue to grow rapidly as we unlock, through the 
transformation process, the true potential museums hold.Arts, culture and heritage have a very significant part to play in the material and 
social upliftment of all of our people

But for this to really happen we need museums to approach their new opportunities with a new mindset and, above all, we need your help 
ladies and gentlemen.I want to appeal to all of you here today, to become involved in your museum. Make your needs and expectations of the 
museum known.The Amathole Museum does not belong to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.We just administer it by providing policy 
guidelines, salaries and a subsidy The museum belongs to a Board of Trustees who are drawn from the local community.We recently advertised 
for nominations for the new Board of Trustees.The response was so poor that we are not yet able to appoint a representative Board.I would 
like to extend and invitation to all of you here today.Take ownership of your museum: make yourself available as a candidate to serve on 
the Board of Trustees.As a Department, we would deary like to see a situation where the museum literally and figuratively belongs to the 
people it serves.

UNVEILING OF NEW NAME

With these few words, ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to move to the ceremonial part of the proceedings and officially unveil the 
new name board.I hereby officially declare that this museum is now renamed the Amathole Museum.May it long serve its community

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Home | About the Eastern Cape | Documents
 Economy | Structures | International Relations | Links
 Premier's Office | Speeches & Media Releases
 Top of Page

---------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Eastern Cape

Premier's Office

Structures

Documents

Speeches & Media Releases

International Relations

Economy

Links


