In my last blog on museum transfromation I promised to write about why I think my rural town of Alice deserve to have a museum of its own. This small town, which forms part of the Nkonkobe Municipality in Eastern Cape, is renowned for its history especially the history of black education.
In Alice, alone, there are two historical institutions in the form of Lovedale and Fort Hare University. In the neighbouring town of Fort Beaufort , which also happens to be located in the Nkonkobe Municipality , Healdtown is famous for producing great leaders such as Nelson Mandela and many other important people.
Not far from Alice, the small town of Middle Drift boasts the Fort Cox Agricultural College. All these great institutions make the Nkonkobe area an educational hub.
However despite this important history tourists who visit the Nkonkobe Municipal area prefer the small tourist town of Hogsback. Also Hogsback, according to the IDP of the Nkonkobe Municipality seems to be the town that attracts wealthy people in the Nkonkobe area. In the Hogsback area there is a thriving traditional clay craft industry driven mainly by people from the villages of Hala. This traditional clay industry has been there for many years and is mainly informal and is thriving because Hogsback has and continues to be the main driver of tourism in the Nkonkobe area.
Given this background an Arts and Craft Centre , in the Nkonkobe Municipal area , should ideally not be located in Alice but in Hogsback.. The craft industry is a business and depends mainly on established and formalised tourism industry and therefore it makes sense to locate such an industry in Hogsback taking into consideration the existing but unformalised clay industry that already exists there. Also important is to note that an Art and Craft Centre does not necessarily attract tourists to the town in the same way a museum will.
In Alice there is a nice building meant to be used as an Arts, Craft and Tourism Information Centre. However whereas the Tourism Information Centre can still work the Art and Craft part does not seem feasible given the fact that in Alice there is no thriving craft industry as seen in the Hala/Hogsback area. Also a centre of this nature cannot on its own attract tourists to the town.
Ideally the unused Arts, Craft and Tourism Centre, located in Alice should be used as a museum dealing with the history of the Nkonkobe area with special emphasis on the area as the pioneering educational centre for the rest of the African continent. This will position the town of Alice as the intellectual home of the African Renaissance. The nearby memorial garden which is located not far from the unused Arts and Craft Centre will also be incorporated into the museum. Currently this garden is not maintained according to the standards befitting a memorial dedicated to heroes.
In the Nkonkobe area there are three historical educational institutions. This education institution located in Alice played a major role in educating the black elite. Notable Alumni are Thabo Mbeki who became President of South Africa, Rev PJ Mzimba who founded the Presbyterian Church of Africa and many others.
Also located in Alice is the internationally renowned University of Fort Hare which produced among others struggle heroes such as Govan Mbeki, Gatsha Buthelezi, Robert Mugabe and other early African intellectuals.
The Healdtown institution was central to the education of early black intellectuals such as Bishop Ndungane, Nelson Mandela and many others. Healdtown also gets mentioned in many written works of literature by early Black writers who went through its gates.
Equally important is the fact that the Nkonkobe area is steeped in history of colonial conflict between the whites and blacks. It is the scene for the playing out of what became known as the frontier wars. Even names such as Fort Beaufort, Fort Hare, and Fort Cox signify that this area was an area of confrontation.
Much has been written about these wars and heroic exploits however little has found its way into museums and tourism projects. The idea of a museum could utilise this important history not only as part of heritage conservation but as a way of attracting tourists to the town of Alice. The town of Alice, as small as it is, is big in terms of the role it has played in the history of the making of South Africa. About 80 percent if not more of the current and past black leaders had at one stage or another been to Alice and the Nkonkobe area.
At some point Alice / Healdtown were at the centre of what President Mbeki called the African Renaissance. Institutions such as the Lovedale Press were established in Alice. Even the ANC Youth League has its origins in Alice. Leaders such as Robert Sobukwe also know the town of Alice.
The Nkonkobe Museum will be located in Alice in the newly built Art and Craft Centre. Alice in the Nkonkobe area is very central and is also closer to the University of Forth Hare and Lovedale. Alice is also steeped in history ,something which must be an envy of many small towns in South Afri
Alice is also a stone throw away from Healdtown and Fort Cox. The town of Alice is also very important since it was historically the administrative centre of what was known as the colonial district of Victoria East. This probably explains why its hospital was named Victoria, after the Queen of England. The town of Alice is also home to the graves of John Knox Bokwe and Ntsikana who are reputed to be early African intellectuals in the Eastern Cape. Alice also boasted a publishing press in the form of Lovedale Press where many books in isiXhosa and other languages were published.
There are many more compelling reasons as to why a museum should be established in Alice. The National Heritage Council has already published a book on Early African Intellectuals from the Eastern Cape. It is also embarking on a National Liberation Heritage Route Project which can never succeed without the history of Alice.
A museum in Alice will also complement existing heritage initiatives such as the Amathole Heritage Initiative driven by Amathole District Municipality and the National Heritage and Cultural Studies Centre located at the University Of Fort Hare. It can also be linked to the revival of the Lovedale College which currently functions as an FET as well as the initiative driven by former Anglican Bishop Ndungane to revive mission schools.
In my next blog I am going to comment on the envisaged National Policy on Museums driven by the Department of Arts and Culture. You are more than welcome to write to me at bmgijima@hotmail.com
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