Friends of Iziko South African Museum - December 2016

FRIENDS OF IZIKO SOUTH AFRICAN

MUSEUM Non-Profit Organisation 052-511-NPO Postal address: P O Box 61 Cape Town 8000 South Africa Physical address: 25 Queen Victoria Street Cape Town SA Phone: 021 481 3913 Fax: 021 481 3993 Cell: 072 225 6893 E-mail: samfriends@iziko.org.za Website http://www.iziko.org.za/; http://www.iziko.org.za/ static/page/friends-of-the-south-african-museum

NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2016 We have reached the end of 2016 and thank you for supporting the Friends activities this year. An interesting programme of lectures and outings is being planned for 2017 and we look forward to your participation. If you have any suggestions for lectures or outings, please do let us know. We wish you a happy and safe holiday season.

2017 MEMBERSHIP

Your 2016 membership expires on 31 December. If you have not already done so, please remember to renew your membership in order for it not to expire.

Please complete and return the membership renewal form sent to you on 28 October as this assists in record keeping. Please also include proof of payment as we have unidentified deposits in our bank account. We cannot send you your renewal stickers if we do not know who made these deposits.

See the Iziko website to download the membership form: http://www.iziko.org.za/static/page/friends-ofthe-south-african-museum

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DONATION TO PROFESSOR ROGER SMITH

Following another successful fossil trip to the Karoo in October, the Friends are thrilled to be in a position to donate funds to Roger Smith. He needs to purchase four handheld GPS units for those who help him in the field to enable them to easily log the exact positions of fossils, an essential part of the work.

Being a world leader in Karoo palaeontology, it is essential that Roger is able to accurately document any fossils that are located. This donation from the Friends will contribute the science of finding Karoo fossils.

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

2016 activities came to a memorable close on 6 December with a happy gathering of members – long-term, regulars and new, as well as a number of visitors – all coming together to celebrate 30 years since the inception of the Friends with champagne and snacks. The evening closed with a fascinating lecture by the ever popular Professor Roger Smith.

It was a wonderful time to connect with former committee members along with enthusiastic members who regularly join in the Friends activities. The display of photographs were a reminder of memorable outings over the years, providing everyone with the opportunity to reminisce and share memories. A big thank you to Olyvenbosch Olive Farm and Fairview for sponsoring the delicious olives and cheeses.

LECTURE PROGRAMME 2017

SALDANHA OYSTER FACTORY

Lectures are held in the TH Barry Lecture Theatre at 18:00, unless otherwise advertised. Entrance is free to members on presentation of a valid 2016 membership card. Visitors are asked for a donation of R30 per lecture.

The Friends had a very successful excursion to Saldanha Bay on 3 September. The weather was perfect and the flowers on the way to Saldanha exceptional.

Tuesday 28 February 2017 Speaker: Michael Walker Title: The old hotels of Cape Town 1890–1911 The talk covers the Art Nouveau designs of hotels in Cape Town from 1890–1911, prior to the Art Deco design of faceless high rise buildings, which replaced many of these pleasing designs. Only four hotels out of a total of sixty remain. The talk describes 24 of these hotels and their architects. The original architectural drawings which are stored in the Western Cape Archives are illustrated thanks to the permission of the City Council. This is a Cape Town story, long forgotten and seldom told, which will remind us of the many attractive hotels that once graced our streets over a century ago. Michael Walker’s A4 colour book which includes these drawings as well as the architects involved and the history of these hotels, will be on sale at R200 per copy.

First we visited an oyster factory to observe how oysters are processed once harvested. This was followed by a boat trip into the bay so see how the oysters are farmed. We then went to a restaurant overlooking the beach and the harbour where we had an excellent meal, which included oysters! We were treated to a demonstration on preparing mussels in a boma on the beach.

Some Friends made a weekend of this excursion to see the flowers at Postberg and to enjoy what the West coast has to offer.

Carel van der Merwe

REPORT BACKS KENILWORTH BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT The Friends were fortunate to have an excellent guide on this outing who spoke with passion about this unique area. We had been warned that it could be quite wet underfoot following the very welcome rain, but we were only too happy to see the results of this as some plants were happily showing off their colours. It was an extremely hot and cloudless day so it was a case of needing hats and sun umbrellas rather than gumboots.

The members all enjoyed this unique visit. We may repeat the outing in late September next year in order to see more flowering plants.

Rosemary Smythe

Photo by Sherry Woods IRMA STERN MUSEUM Flora old and new exhibition

The weather may have been wintery, but the Friends were given a warm and enthusiastic welcome to the Irma Stern Museum by Mary van Blommestein, curator of the recently opened exhibition Flora Old and New.

Mary shared her passion for the diverse range of botanical paintings, giving the exhibition a broader dimension and understanding than just seeing a collection of beautiful paintings.

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It was so interesting to see works by contemporary artists along with those of nineteenth and twentieth century artists from the University of Cape Town collections which are rarely seen. What a privilege it was to see works by Arabella Roupell, Mary Page, Beatrice Carter and Harry Bolus, interspersed with those of present-day local artists. We heard interesting stories of the various artists whose work had never been framed or even displayed in an exhibition.

On display were also herbarium specimens of great historic interest collected by William Burchell during his South African travels between 1811 and 1815, adding yet another interesting dimension to the exhibition.

This was also an opportunity to wander around the garden, admire the Zanzibar door and enjoy the tranquillity of this space protected from the noisy, busy activity outside the walls of the museum.

The morning was rounded off with delicious refreshments in the Pop-Up Coffee Shop which is open for the duration of the exhibition.

Thank you to Charlotte Honiball for arranging this wonderful visit.

Maxine Davies

VERGENOEGD DUCKS The visit to Vergenoegd was a great success. Initially the weather did not look promising but it cleared beautifully once we arrived.

The visit started with the history of the estate which goes back to Simon van der Stel’s time. It was the first river, ‘Eerste River’, his exploring parties came to. The estate has been used for farming ever since, gradually diminishing in size.

The story of the motivation to introduce the ducks to the estate was inspirational. We were shown around the breeding centre where we saw ducks ranging from one day old up to several months, when they are released into different pens or into the ‘gaggle of ducks’ that perform their daily duties of eating snails and other pests. There were very interesting breeds with amazing colours.

Following the walk-about we were treated to a lovely lunch in the tasting room which was most enjoyable and where old friendships and stories were shared. I am sure that many of our members will return.

Rosemary Smythe

Photos by Maxine Davies (above) and Dan de Langristin (left)

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ANNUAL FOSSIL HUNTING TRIP Friends arrived at Meltonwold near Victoria West late on Wednesday 12 October. The excursion began with an introductory lecture by Roger, followed by dinner and an early night after a long day’s travel.

The next morning was spent on a koppie behind the lodge where evidence of fossils was found. Friends also saw an old living site, probably San or Khoi, with scattered ostrich egg fragments. Instead of a field lunch Roger made a boerewors braai at the lodge, which was accompanied by Georgina’s famous salads.

After lunch we headed for another koppie on Meltonwold where Eric Harley discovered a gorgonopsian snout sticking out of a cliff. Roger will excavate it at a later stage, as it probably is the visible part of (perhaps) a complete animal.

We left early on Friday morning to examine an old diamond prospecting trench on Meltonwold where we spent an interesting half an hour learning about a lady’s best friend. From there we went to virgin slopes at Wolwehoek where a few interesting finds made for an enjoyable day. Charl Cilliers found a coprolite which, on breaking it open, was found to contain bone fragments. He also found two embedded entwined diictodon skeletons. Linda Rose found a gorgonopsian tooth which might have been lost while scavenging a carcass. The hotel provided an excellent braai in the evening.

The highlight of the trip was our Saturday visit to Leeukloof, home to Pottie Potgieter, who took us

to what must be the best therapsid fossil site. The area is a graveyard. Within half an hour, Friends had marked out over fifty fossils in situ, excluding bits and pieces scattered all over the place. It was a unique experience. Everyone found something of interest. Whatever happened there must have been catastrophic. Eric Harley presented a lecture on El Dorado before dinner, which had nothing to do with fossil-finding, but was interesting.

Although the annual fossil trip is about finding interesting specimens, it’s only a part of what makes it so special. Just being in the Karoo in isolated places with wide-open spaces, quiet and peaceful, in congenial company, led by an A-rated scientist is best described as a magical experience. As always this trip would not have been as wonderful as it was without Georgina’s great culinary skills and Roger’s expertise and knowledge. We look forward to the 2017 experience.

Munro Bloch CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE This Friends outing commenced with a visit to the Fired Ceramic exhibition in the Granary. Esther Esmyol gave the history and talked about the meaning of the beautiful work on display which focuses on ceramics made in South Africa from earliest times through to the contemporary. This exhibition reveals the beauty and multi-layered meanings of ceramic works.

Lungile Gadezweni then gave a brief history of the Castle, identifying the newly decorated areas before taking us on a tour. He shared fascinating information about the architecture of the Castle, pointing out the flat roofed buildings built by the Dutch and the buildings opposite with the pitched roofs built by the British. He also showed us the floor surface of the walkway between the courtyards that was made of wood in order to silence the sound of horses so as not to disturb the ladies whose sleeping quarters were nearby. We were fortunate to visit the prison cells, dungeons and other places of interest accompanied by such a knowledgeable and informative guide.

Thanks to Lungile and Esther for giving Friends a most entertaining and informative morning.

Photo by Roger Smith

Charlotte Honiball

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TUNNEL AND DUNGEON TOUR Friends were invited by Matt Wiese of Ecoedutainment to join two of his tunnel and dungeon tours, Discover Cape Town’s lost River.

Thank you to Matt for this unique opportunity.

During the early days of ‘Little Amsterdam’, as Cape Town was commonly known, canals and rivers, not highways and interchanges, acted as routes of travel and supplied the Company’s Garden and ships with fresh water. Still in existence today, these tunnels of approximately two meters in diameter, located under the busy streets of the CBD, now help with storm water drainage and channel fresh run-off water from Table Mountain (straight into the sea).

After a briefing session and a fascinating short tour of the Castle from where the tour commenced, Friends were taken into the tunnels to follow the underground streams. When pedestrians drop items in the road, these get washed into the tunnels and participants were urged to hunt for ‘treasure’ whilst exploring the tunnels.

During the recent renovations at the Castle, these canals and water pipes were cleaned and repaired resulting in fresh water once again flowing from the mountain into the Castle moat. This has brought an exciting return of birds and animals to the area.

Fish eagles have been spotted on the Castle walls as well as a variety of birds and fish. Cape otters, crabs and water creatures have also returned to the moat.

Thanks to Matt for including Friends on these tours.

Charlotte Honiball WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Bettie Coetzee Vernon Hong Kader Crombie Ian Jay Mark Diskin Henry and Sally Paine Yvonne Francis Denise Ross FRIENDS OFFICE Please note that the office will be closed from Friday 16 December until Wednesday18 January 2017.

Charlotte Honiball Friends of Iziko South African Museum

Photos above by Vernon Hong, Mark Diskin and Roger Smith

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