Renovations at Iziko

In keeping with our vision and mission, Iziko Museums of Cape Town, with funding from the Department of Public Works (DPW), is installing wheelchair access at our sites. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our valued visitors, but thank you for bearing with us as we improve our museums’ accessibility for all. Sites affected include the Iziko Slave Lodge, Bo-Kaap Museum, Rust en Vreugd, the Old Town House and Koopmans-De Wet House.

MANDELA: LEADER, COMRADE, NEGOTIATOR, PRISONER, STATESMAN
CURRENT

A groundbreaking exhibition celebrating the life and times of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela opened at the Iziko Slave Lodge on 11 February 2010 to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of his release from prison in 1990. It is set to run for at least a year.

Nelson Mandela was central to every stage of South Africa’s epic struggle against apartheid – from formulating a new approach to the struggle in the 1940s, to leading the mass struggle of the 1950s, from the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe in the early 1960s, to imprisonment for 27 years. He served as the first President of a democratic South Africa, according him the iconic accolade of ‘Father of the Nation’.

Produced by the Apartheid Museum in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Museum and the Department of Education. Support of the Mott Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the National Lottery, is also gratefully acknowledged.

Enquiries: Wieke van Delen, Tel. 021 461 3375 or email wvandelen@iziko.org.za.

Iziko's Education and Public Programmes department have developed a lively educational programme and other youth development programmes to accompany the exhibition. In particular, programmes on youth leadership will be offered around 18 July, to mark the United Nations's initiative to declare Madiba's birthday as “Nelson Mandela International Day” – thereby saluting his contribution to the culture of peace and freedom, human rights, reconciliation and equality.

REMEMBERING SLAVERY
CURRENT

The new exhibition recently installed in the Slave Lodge entrance hall characterises the transformation of this site into a museum of slavery and human rights. Aspects of the long history of, and the struggle against, slavery are highlighted through the use of thought-provoking texts and striking imagery.

The Cape played an integral role in the Indian Ocean trade route. Over time, the slaves brought to the Cape from the Indian Ocean basin came to outnumber the colonists. For over thirty years after the abolition of the British Ocean Slave Trade in 1807, the Cape remained a slave society. Slavery and colonialism left a legacy of servitude here and in many regions throughout the world. Still today, millions of men, women and children live in conditions close to slavery.

SLAVE ORIGINS – CULTURAL ECHOES
CURRENT

The range of objects displayed in this exhibition at the Slave Lodge – including puppets, furniture, weapons and fashion objects – reveals in a general sense the rich diversity of cultural backgrounds of the slaves transported to the Cape during the 17th and 18th centuries.

These objects are not from the period of colonial slavery, but reflect how customs and traditions are passed down from one generation to the next and adapted for different conditions.

The VOC (Dutch East India Company) maintained a settlement at the Cape to support its profitable Asian trading operations. Nearly all the men, women and children were from regions around the Indian Ocean, including present-day Madagascar, Mozambique, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesian islands such as Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Timor.

Enquiries: Gerald Klinghardt, Tel. (021) 481 3836 or email gklinghardt@iziko.org.za