Last Friday, 27th July, the Cape Town Museum held the first of its public engagements on social inclusion with an event organised in conjunction with Activate! Change Drivers and Africa Unite. The event brought together organisations that work to promote human rights, change for public good and active, engaged citizens. The purpose of this engagement was to elicit their views on the vision of the new Cape Town Museum, which is to:

• Provide a platform to address social, economic and environmental concerns.

• Play an important role in building a culture of active citizenship, reflecting on collective identities, fostering respect for human rights and gender equality, and contributing to social inclusion and cohesion.

Part of the dialogue centred on how best to celebrate the diverse histories, cultures, languages and identities of those in the Western Cape, and how the museums might work with communities to record and share these. Central to the discussions were the following questions:

• What does social inclusion mean to you and how is it applied in your own space/organisation?

• Do you think the Cape Town is working in an inclusive and interconnected?

• What inclusive and interconnected opportunities and potential do you see through the Cape Town Museum?

The event stimulated worthwhile debate from a number of different stakeholders. Click below to see some pictures and a video of participants in action.