Friendsnewsletter nov2013

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 South Africa 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

This is a story about just how much the Bushmen can teach us about respect for our natural resources and how to preserve them. Patricia demonstrates how the ‘old’ Bushman attitudes hold the key to our environmental future. She shows how little they consume, how much they value what they consume and how much they leave in place for their children’s children. But it’s also an amusing talk about a journey with a group of irreverent storytellers, free spirits, hilarious mimics and loving people.

COST: We are asking all members who attend this talk to make a donation of R50 to boost the coffers of the Friends for a special project to upgrade the lighting in the African Dinosaurs exhibition with LED lights which will not only enhance the exhibitions, but provide longer lasting lighting.

Non-members donation: R60.

NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2013

The Friends programme comes to a close this month with popular speaker Patricia Glyn sending us on our merry way for the festive season.

LECTURE PROGRAMME The lecture programme continues on the last Tuesday of each month. All lectures will be in the TH Barry Lecture Theatre at Iziko South African Museum, as always at 19:00, unless otherwise advertised.

Tuesday 26 November Time: 18:30 for 19:00 Speaker: Patricia Glyn – well-known eco adventurer, radio and television personality and author Topic: Dawid’s return In 2011 Patricia Glyn set off for the Kalahari to find traces of a long-dead Bushman by the name of Makai Kruiper – a legendary mystic, hunter and healer who roamed ‘The Thirst Land’ a century ago. At her side was Makai’s grandson, Dawid, a man as legendary as his forebear.

Dawid was 76 years old and easily the most famous Bushman in South Africa, having featured in numerous films, documentaries, books and academic studies.

Patricia’s talk is about what she witnessed on this trip: the fragments that remain in the Kalahari sand of a long-gone life, the extraordinary memory and tracking skills that helped Dawid find his grandfather’s artifacts, some 100 years after they’d been buried and the secrets that have been handed down from son to son.

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2014 The programme for 2014 is looking good thanks to the energetic and creative committee as well as welcome suggestions from members. Watch this space.

The lecture programme will begin on Tuesday 25 February with a lecture by Dr Jane Yeats.

Title: The reinvention of a Pathology Museum This lecture will provide a brief overview of the history of the pathology museum at the University of Cape Town, followed by a discussion on the rise and fall of pathology museums used in medical education and the revival and survival of these museums in the twenty first century. The speaker will give details about the digitisation and online access to the new Pathology Learning Centre. Finally the interdisciplinary collaboration between art and pathology, historically interesting specimens and specimens that reflect important diseases in our country as well as old post-morten records will be discussed.

The lecture will be followed a week later with a guided tour of the Pathology Museum at UCT. The date and details will be sent out in early 2014.

THE BIG FIVE IN CENTRAL CAPE TOWN We regretably had to cancel this outing due to unforseen circumstances. However our expedition leader, Owen Kinahan, will lead the Safari through the wilds of the CBD next year in search of the elusive Big Five. The date and details about the excursion will be sent out early in 2014.

It was another of those brilliant and memorable days, shared with a nice group and learning about the bedrock of the most beautiful city in the world ... what more could one want!! – Linda Helfet It was a great day. Roger is so generous with his time, knowledge and enthusiasm. – Clare Gibbon Many thanks from us both for the super outing.

– Jan and Ann Vonk We enjoyed the outing and are looking at the geology around us with a little more understanding now.

– Al and Ethleen Lastovica It really was a very pleasant outing and extremely interesting. Thanks Roger.

– Dan and Ingrid de Langristin A most enjoyable experience. – John Blackman

REPORTBACKS GEOLOGY TOUR OF THE CAPE PENINSULA The Cape Peninsula has a number of unusual and interesting geological features which we mostly take for granted as we drive past, but when you spend the day travelling around the peninsula with Roger Smith a new and fascinating world opens up.

Starting out at the Sea Point Contact Zone and following, with our eyes, its extended evidence up the side of Lions Head, we got a very different picture of that which we look at so regularly. Our journey continued around Chapmans Peak and past the deep south. Malmesbury rocks, Cape Granite, cross bedding, Graafwater Formation gradually began to mean something as we saw examples of these formations in the passing landscape.

Our picnic spot at Oliphantsbos was carpeted with flowers and had an uninterupted view across the sea. The increasingly strong south-easter encouraged us all to huddle closer together as did the seagulls amongst the rocks in front of us.

The final stop was at the Cape of Good Hope, where we were assured the view from a serious climb along a rocky path ‘would change our lives’. Unfortunately the souther-easter deterred even the most determined in the group, but it is possible that lives were changed by the extraordinary geological experiences and knowledge gained during the day.

EXPLORE THE TUNNELS UNDER CAPE TOWN Here are some comments from the tunnel explorers: Just want to say thanks to the Friends for organising this tour – me and my two girls had a lot of fun, learnt a lot, enjoyed the morning, and are still talking about it! Thanks to Matt and his helper especially. A great time was had by the Willises!! – Elmara Willis Thank you for organising the tunnel tour it was great fun and I enjoyed it. – Ray Samson Thank you for arranging the tour – it was interesting and quite a different experience. – Erica Smythe Thank you for organising the tunnel trip - it was thoroughly enjoyable and I am absolutely amazed at the craftsmanship - no cracked walls etc etc - as far as I could see anyway - so I suppose I am someone who appreciates a job well done, ANY job! – Catharine Schorr

THE UCT HERITAGE TRAIL

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FOR 2014

Terrill Nicolay led a group of Friends across the Middle and Upper Campus of the University of Cape Town, highlighting a number of points of interest along the illustrated Heritage Trail.

Membership of the Friends is for a calendar year and therefore becomes due for renewal by 31 December. The rates for 2014 are shown below. However if you joined after 1 September your membership will then run through to December 2014. A renewal form is included please ensure that it is completed and returned along with your proof of payment. If making payment by cash or with a cheque it is important that you include R20 to cover the bank charges which will be levied to the Friends account.

An EFT is the only method of payment that does not incur bank charges.

CATEGORY WITH EMAIL WITHOUT EMAIL Seniors & Students R 150.00 R 220.00 Individuals R 220.00 R 285.00 Family R 360.00 R 430.00 (2 adults + 2 children)

Beginning with the oldest building on campus, the Summer House, then through the subway under the M3 freeway, past the rugby fields to Rhodes statue, the sod-turning slab marking the spot where the first sod should have been turned, but due to adverse weather was actually turned near the Summer House. We then looked at the Solomon Plaque showing the original design for Upper Campus by Joseph Solomon. The Oracle is an interesting water feature of Paarl granite and concrete which has different symbolic meanings to different people – fascinating. Next was the impressive Smuts Hall modelled on traditional European institutions and now abuzz with students packing and leaving for their summer holidays. The highlight of Jamieson Hall was the often overlooked paintings of past Chancellors and the anecdotes surrounding their tenure. We past the Cissy Gool Plaza which celebrates this first black woman to graduate from UCT. With 18 specific sites on the Heritage Trail it is a wonderful way to visually learn the history of this academic institution, a famous landmark in its own right.

THE FRIENDS OFFICE The Friends office has been moved back to the Museum and is once again fully operational. I will be in attendance as usual on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00–16:00.

The landline remains the same: 021 481 3913 and you can use the cell number 072 225 6893 at other times during working hours. The office will close on Friday 20 December and reopen on Wednesday 16 January 2014.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS It is a pleasure to welcome new members to the Friends and we look forward to meeting you all at future Friends activities.

Jacques Loftus Tina Loftus Santiago Loftus David Schaub-Jones Ann Schaub-Jones India Schaub-Jones Louis Schaub-Jones Catherine Schorr I look forward to seeing you all on 26 November.

Maxine Davies Friends of Iziko South African Museum P.S. There are lots of interesting science and natural history courses on offer at UCT Summer School 20–31 January 2014. For details, visit: www.summerschool.uct.ac.za