The design and implementation of a new travelling museum initiative to bring heritage to people in Southern Africa

Abstract

Traditional museums are faced with many challenges in Africa. One of these is the public's ability to access museum collections as well as heritage sites. This problem is worsened where physical barriers, such as distance, and financial constraints inhibit people's ability to view, visit, and engage heritage, resulting in a growing void. To overcome this, we developed and are testing a travelling museum initiative that presents the findings of an active archaeological research project currently underway in northern South Africa's middle Limpopo Valley. This paper presents the travelling museum and its theoretical underpinnings from inception to production. We provide details regarding the design and development of the museum and discuss the initial limitations and challenges. Our intention is to outline the details of this initiative because we believe that it may be of interest to others who wish to use similar approaches for their own community engagement programmes.