National museums fear the axe following a financial survey by government consultants, writes Marion Edmunds
GOVERNMENT consultants have proposed closing down a number of national museums, including the War Museum of the Boer Republics, the Afrikaanse Taalmuseum in Paarl, and the William Fehr Collection in the Castle in Cape Town, to make way for two new flagship museums to be based in Gardens, Cape Town and in Pretoria.
The proposals – guaranteed to provoke a storm in the museum world and among traditionalists – were leaked to the Mail & Guardian this week, after the Department of Arts and Culture refused to disclose the Deloitte and Touche survey it commissioned, on the grounds that it might be taken out of context.
The survey also proposes that the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg be relocated to Durban, the National English Literary Museum be amalgamated with the English Dictionary Unit in Grahamstown, and some of the smaller museums be amalgamated into the flagships as educational and exhibition centres.
The Transvaal Museum and the National Cultural History Museum are envisaged as the core of the new Gauteng-based flagship, and the South African Museum, the South African National Gallery and the South African Cultural History Museum the core of the Cape Town flagship.
Themba Wakashe, chief director of arts and culture, downplayed the importance of the survey – alleged to have cost the government more than R1-million.
“The Deloitte and Touche survey is only one of many documents that will be taken into consideration when the review committee decides how to restructure museums,” he said. Other documents include the government’s White Paper on Arts and Culture, the Arts and Culture Task Group report and reports by the Directors of National Collections. Decisions should be taken with the next two months.
Deloittes has indicated that a number of the museums the government is currently funding are not relevant. The survey says of the Afrikaanse Taalmuseum: “The museum does not fit the concept of a national institution and presents a narrow element of South African heritage. It has limited revenue- generating potential, it is not located in the major population centre of the province and it has limited potential as a public attraction.”
Deloitte and Touche base its proposals on a survey done by chartered accountants of South Africa’s 18 national museums. The accountants assessed the museum’s activities, their ability to generate funds, and their plans for the future. They then drew up a report that proposed deproclaiming all national museums and replacing them with the two flagships. The two flagships together would make up the Magi – the Museum and Art Gallery Infrastructure – and they would be responsible for the bulk of research, design, development and distribution of exhibits and educational programmes.
Despite the department’s attempts to keep the Deloitte and Touche report confidential, leaks have already filtered down to museum workers who are outraged that a survey conducted by chartered accountants is to guide government in assessing the worth of the nation’s cultural assets.
One of the review committee, Dr Rautenbach, said this week: “Conceptually the survey is on track, but the nuts and bolts of their proposal is way out. But it’s my perception that the department is seeking the best solution and the Deloittes model will not necessarily be implemented. Some of the museums must go … The department is listening to all stakeholders, but there is a lot of complaining because personal agendas are at stake.”
Marilyn Martin, director of the South African National Gallery, said she was confident that the survey would have a positive impact on debate because it was important to have a financial analysis on which to base decisions. However, she felt the survey needed to be aired in the open, so that individual institutions could each see how they had fared in the study, and improve if necessary.