Klerksdorp Record, Klerksdorp - This year is Klerksdorp Museum’s Diamond Jubilee year.
The big celebration was on Tuesday April 1, celebrating 50 years since the Klerksdorp Cultural Museum was established.
The then Klerksdorp City Council purchased the Old Klerksdorp Prison (erected in 1891) in 1973 for the purpose of converting it into a town museum. Three staff members were appointed and commenced their duties on April 1 1975. Once a suitable number of exhibitions were completed, the museum opened for the public in January 1977.
Roelf Marx who helped establish the museum was the longest serving curator at the time of his retirement in 2003. He was succeeded as curator by Herzola van Heerden who was the in-cumbent in the post till her retirement in 2020. Tragically, she passed away shortly after her retirement. The current curator, Alta Blom, has been with the museum since 2009 and was appointed as curator in 2023.
Over the years, both museum staff and exhibitions have changed and evolved. New museum best practices have been incorporated into museum displays as far as was financially feasible, and modern media were also incorporated into the visitor experience.
In the past two decades, Klerksdorp Museum has either upgraded or replaced se-ven permanent museum exhibitions. These are the Matlosana Exhibition, Pyrophillite Exhibition, Khoisan Rock Art Exhibition, Indian Exhibition, Pioneer Exhibition, Anglo Boer War Exhibition and Prison Clothes Exhibition. Throughout these upgrades and replacements, the Museum strove towards creating a modern look and feel for these exhibitions while staying true to its mission of celebrating the material cultural heritage of all the people of the City of Matlosana.
Visitors to the museum over the years will remember the mannequins used in several exhibitions. The four fibreglass figures in two Museum exhibitions replicating cells in the Old Klerksdorp Prison, as well as a similar mannequin in the Prison Kitchen Exhibition, are the only remaining mannequins, as the rest of these started deteriorating with age and were shedding glass fibres and resin dust that created a health hazard. The museum had to dispose of the majority of these mannequins that were cast in the 1980s on living models.
The Museum rapidly expanded from 1977 onwards, soon leading to a lack of sufficient exhibition space. Therefore, museum staff undertook basic restoration of the former Chief Warders House which has been left abandoned on the grounds of the Old Klerksdorp Prison. The building was opened to the public in November 1983.
Another interesting fact about the museum is that the old Armoury next to the museum front door was the town armoury where firearms and ammunition were kept. It was located close to where Ellaton is today. When the Ellaton/Orkney Road was widened, the armoury next to the road was dismantled and rebuilt stone by stone at the museum. It now serves as guard room for security officials on duty at the museum.
The museum invites residents to visit them to celebrate their diamond jubilee. They host regular educational programs but also do outreach programs in various communities and take educational programs to schools, thus enabling learners who might otherwise experience difficulties visiting the museum, to also benefit from these programs. “From the ancient Khoisan, then the ancestors of modern-day Sotho and Tswana speakers and finally the Voortrekkers arriving in what is today Klerksdorp by 1837, up to our modern democratic society, Klerksdorp Museum aims to celebrate with and educate our community about our wonderfully diverse society and its cultural heritage.
“Our sincere hope is that in the next 50 years, we shall continue to serve our community through accountability, sensitivity and fiscal responsibility, playing our part in cultivating a pride in and love for our unique South African cultural identity,’’ said Blom in the museum’s birthday message.
* The museum staff supporting Blom in her role as curator is Bert Gaffen, Exekiel Maqayiya, Vuyisile Bentile, Cobus Rossouw, Doreen Mathiba, Mildred Lesibela, Mamonkeng Siboza, Sipho Sikhakhane, Themba Mneno, Dikledi Lekgoee and Lillian Letshabo.
