In 2025 South Africa’s oldest conventional museum, the Iziko South African Museum (ISAM),
formerly known as the South African Museum will be 200 years old. For almost two centuries, the
museum was involved in pioneering work in the fields of natural history, art, and social/cultural
history. It was also one of the few museums that participated in unethical research and exhibition
programmes in ethnography and the now discredited field of racial science.
The bicentenary of ISAM is an opportunity for professionals, practitioners, and academics to reflect
on the museum’s rich and sometimes difficult heritage. Iziko Museums of South Africa and the
Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) have agreed to produce a joint publication. Scholars,
practitioners, and professionals are invited to submit chapter proposals for a peer reviewed
publication that will critically look at the contribution of ISAM in shaping South Africa’s heritage
landscape and history; and most arguably international trends in un/doing museum work.
Contributions may be in the field of natural history, social/cultural history, art, astronomy/planetaria,
built environment, architecture, education, outreach, and public programmes. Proposals may cover
aspects of research, exhibition, collections and digitisation, conservation, education.
Procedure:
- Chapter proposals should include:
a. title,
b. author details (names, surname, contact email address, affiliation)
c. author’s brief personal biography of up to 150 words
d. an abstract of no more than 300 words, a
e. confirmation that the paper is unpublished. A similarity index will be conducted on all final
submitted papers. - Please send your chapter proposal as a Word document to Ms Buhle Dyakopu
bdyakopu@iziko.org.za by 31 July 2024. - Authors of successful proposals will be notified by 30 September 2024.
- Complete drafts of the chapters are due on 31 January 2025.
- Accepted manuscripts:
a. should not exceed 8000 words,
b. will employ a house style with all writing preferences (to be shared once the abstracts are
approved.)
c. will be peer reviewed externally, and reviewers’ inputs discussed with contributors.
