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Opening of the Never Never  Again Exhibition in Port Elizaberth Museum
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Sports, Arts Culture

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 EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
 SPEECH BY MR Z. M MAKINA, DEPUTY PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR SPORT, ARTS AND CULTURE
 AT  THE OPENING OF THE NEVER NEVER AGAIN EXHIBITION
 19 JUNE 2000

INTRODUCTION

It gives me great pleasure to be here today to officially open this exhibition commemorating the youth of our country. The Exhibition we 
are opening this morning, Never, Never Again tells three stories: on one level the exhibition tells the story of the 1976 student uprising; 
on another level the opening of this exhibition also tells us the story of a remarkable photographer, Peter Magubane; and on a third level, 
it says something about how far museums have come in transforming to serve the needs of all communities.

BACKGROUND

In 1994 the Provincial government inherited 15 museums, mostly from the old Cape Provincial Administration.The Port Elizabeth Museum, along 
with the others, formed part of what is now the Directorate of Museums and Heritage Resources in the Department of Sport, Arts and 
Culture.As you will all recall, the Provincial government faced many challenges. As far as museums were concerned, these included 
redressing imbalances in the way in which museum services are delivered and extending museum services to communities that had not 
previously enjoyed such services.

Since 1994, the Directorate has formulated and steadily implemented a transformation strategy designed to transform our museums into 
institutions which will truly serve all the people of the Eastern Cape, redress imbalances in museum programmes and ensure that museum 
services are 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 (such as 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.

PROCESS OF CHANGE

The Board of Trustees and the management of the Port Elizabeth Museum embraced the challenges of transformation.Considerable progress was 
made in changing the Board of Trustees.A start was made in transforming the staffing structure by appointing suitably-qualified staff from 
communities that were previously not represented in the museum.Interventions were made to improve community relations. Education outreach 
programmes were strengthened and extended.A programme of exciting new temporary exhibitions was started.These exhibitions, like the one 
today, have made a tremendous contribution in changing the way history has been depicted in museums.The opening ceremonies have also 
contributed to developing new audiences for museums.Peter Magubane has contributed to this in no small way through the partnership that has 
developed between him and some of our museums.One only has to think of the highly successful Peter Magubane exhibition of Women: Their Role 
in the Struggle for Freedom exhibition to appreciate how much museums have embraced change.Look around you today.No longer do we have dry 
and boring openings of exhibitions.A new vibrancy has permeated our museums and blown the old cobwebs away.The Port Elizabeth Museum has 
carved a niche for itself as one of the main tourist attractions in the region.Visitor figures are impressive and rival those of museums 
elsewhere in South Africa.Similarly, the education programmes of the museum indicates that it is serving a vital function.The research 
programmes of the Port Elizabeth Museum add additional value to the outputs of the institution.

ROLE OF MUSEUMS AND A CHALLENGE

But transformation, ladies and gentlemen, is not an event.It is a process.Each step we take is a milestones along the way to creating a 
better society.Whilst we are mindful of the progress that has been made in transforming our museums, 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 Port Elizabeth Museum does not belong to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. We just provide policy guidelines, 
salaries and a subsidy.The museum belongs to a Board of Trustees who are drawn from the local community.The Department recently advertised 
for nominations for the new Board of Trustees. The response across the Province was so poor that it has not yet been possible to appoint a 
representative Board.I would like to extend an invitation to all of you here today.Take ownership of your museum: make yourself available 
ascandidates to serve on the Board of Trustees.We would dearly like to see a situation where the museum literally and figuratively belongs 
to the people it serves.

OPENING OF EXHIBITION

I would now like to move to the ceremonial part of the proceedings and officially open the new exhibition on the 1976 uprising.This 
exhibition is the product of a very successful partnership between the Port Elizabeth museum, Mr Peter Magubane and the Directorate for 
Museums and Heritage Resources. Its primary purpose is to remind us where we come from.As we stand on the threshold of the next phase of 
our democratic government we need to remember the struggles and sacrifices that brought us to where we are today.It is designed to remind 
us of the bitter price paid by so many.

Our democracy, ladies and gentlemen, is fragile and precious.We all need to nurture it.Memory and remembrance are also fragile and 
precious.As we boldly move into the next phase of government, as we move forward in creating a better society for all, and as we move into 
the new millennium, we need to pay tribute to those whose struggles have brought us to this point.Sir Seretse Khama once noted that AA 
people without a past are a people without a future.@his is as true for us in South Africa as it is for people all over the world.The 
exhibition we are opening today takes its name from a statement made by our former President, Nelson Mandela, on his inauguration in 1994, 
when he stated that never, never again would one people be oppressed by another in this country.

This is one of the key roles museums have to play in society: to provide the collective memory of the people of the country as a foundation 
for moving into the future.

With these few words, ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare that the exhibition is officially opened.May the museum grow from strength to 
strength in serving its community

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