Who We Are
The Cape Town Museum is a project of the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport with the aim to create a collaborative and participatory initiative that explores and presents our City as a holistic cultural landscape and living museum.
The museum focuses on the following themes:
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Setting the Scene
Stories about the development of physical landforms and natural features.
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Shaping the Urban Landscape
Stories about land appropriation, displacement, settlement, migration and movement, urban planning and transport infrastructure, forced removals and resettlement, gentrification, restitution and reparations.
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Personal Histories
Stories about individual identities, ancestry, family histories, life histories, participation in community and public life, personal achievements, challenges and their suffering, courage and resilience in the face of adversities.
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Social Histories
Everyday life stories about ways in which individuals and groups live, work, create, learn, play, socialise, worship and heal (for example restoring physical, mental and emotional health).
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Shaping the Future
Stories about creative interventions intended to: raise awareness about contemporary predicaments, promote a sense of belonging, imagine and build a more just, equitable, safe and sustainable future for all Capetonians.
The Cape Town Museum
Works in partnership with other institutions, organisations and initiatives to identify, research and present stories that have been marginalised, hidden or erased and, generally, to celebrate the diverse histories that have shaped what Cape Town is today.
Connects diverse institutions, organisations and initiatives involved in research, storytelling, memory and development work across Cape Town.
Fosters collaborative memory-making practices to draw on the past in making sense of the present in order to proactively imagine a more just and inclusive future.
Supports collaborative research initiatives aimed at understanding how Cape Town, as a city, can best move forward in a way that benefits all its people.
Facilitates and supports imaginative and interactive encounters and educational experiences for locals, visitors, memory makers and future shapers across the city.
Cape Town Museum Concept Development
The idea and concept of the Cape Town Museum has been in development through a consultative process that has taken place over two years under the banner “What’s your Cape Town”. We engaged with heritage activists, community organisations and heritage organisations through several platforms, including public workshops in Parow, Langa, George, Cape Town City Centre, Lwandle, Mamre, and Muizenberg, social media and focus groups.
Examples of feedback from the consultation process:
“My KHOE ancestors have been here for THOUSANDS of years. My ancestors gave SOUNDS AND WORDS to this land.”
“Cape Town has a rich and varied history which must be told by ordinary people. We need to capture the essence of our powerful past through storytelling and plays.”
“The museum should have a range of ways to be accessible to the public but largely should be community-owned.”
“I think this is an important platform to showcase the lived experience of people who reside in a space, the complex personal histories, with multi-media expressions.”
“You need to include an eye on the future - climate change is real and is already starting to affect CT hugely. Species extinction is also a major issue.”