Cape Town Museum Memory Centre – A Sneak Peak

During a recent garden party hosted by the Friends of the Cape Town Museum at the Cape Medical Museum, the Friends were given a sneak preview of the new Memory Centre, which will be opening towards the end of November 2022. Situated in the Old City Hospital Complex in Green Point, the Cape Medical Museum is currently being renovated with the garden also being refreshed and reimagined to include indigenous medicinal plants. Members of the Friends donated plants for the museum garden and enjoyed the garden around tea, cake, and conversation.

Members of the Friends of the Cape Town Museum and Museum Services Staff.

The Memory Centre features an exhibition on the Peninsula Maternity Hospital, which was established in District Six in 1921 and operated for 71 years before its closure. The exhibition was developed at the request of a community member, Mr Christopher Cox, to recognize the role of the Peninsula Maternity Hospital in District Six. Mr Cox also helped develop the content of the exhibition and put the museum in touch with other community members who contributed their stories. As it turned out, two of the Friends - Ms Marguerite Dekanah and Ms Maatjie Greeff - had worked as midwives at the Peninsula Maternity Hospital. In the true spirit of the new Memory Centre, they shared stories about their time at the hospital, and thanked the Cape Town Museum Friends for inviting them. “Maatjie and I were very impressed by the exhibition, and look forward to visiting the Museum in the future.”

Cape Medical Museum in which the Memory Centre is housed.

The Memory Centre has been created by the Cape Town Museum to offer a space where people can share and record their memories, as well as learn about the history of the Cape through the stories of others. In addition to the exhibition on the Peninsula Maternity Hospital, art from the Cape Town Museum collection is on display, together with old photographs and memory quotes - all selected to evoke memories of work, play and daily life in Cape Town. Visitors to the Memory Centre will be encouraged to add their own photographs and memories and to share their reflections on a large blackboard.

As part of the work of the Memory Centre, we would like to invite the public to contact the Cape Town Museum with ideas and information about sites and events in their community that they think are important and should be remembered. You can send your ideas to capetownmuseum@westerncape.gov.za