Cape Town - The story of South Africa’s liberation is set to be digitised in an initiative by the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Robben Island Museum (RIM) in the hope of making history more accessible.
The project to digitise the Mayibuye Archives artefacts depicting the resistance to apartheid during the 1950s up to the first democratic election in 1994 was launched on Tuesday night in Cape Town.
Housed at the UWC and managed by RIM, the Unboxing Mayibuye Project launch was marked at an event on Tuesday evening at the Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island.
Over the next three years, the project, which is a partnership between UWC, RIM, the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA) and the French government’s international development agency (AFD), will initiate and establish the framework for digital preservation within the Mayibuye Archives.
RIM chief heritage officer Tshima Nemaheni said the project was part of the museum’s quest to create more touch points for people to engage with South Africa’s public and cultural heritage.
Nemaheni said: “This project paves the way to expand our reach, while making sure history and heritage remain relevant and accessible He said the partnership was key in the repositioning of RIM to expand access to heritage, and would put them in a position to impart knowledge and share learnings with other museums.
INA chief executive Laurent Vallet said it was a matter of pride and an honour for his organisation to be entrusted with supporting the preservation of RIM’s precious collection, documenting the Struggle history.
AFD Southern Africa regional director Audrey Rojkoff said the project would lead to a better understanding of how what happened on Robben Island could inform future decisions.
