The Awards were presented by the Province’s MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport, Dr. Ivan Meyer.
“We were surprised and very proud to receive the award since we put this exhibit together with almost no budget – and we were up against some really strong competition: the other finalists in our category were Iziko Museums of South Africa (with a project called ‘Museum Without Walls’), and the Hout Bay Museum,” said the Great Brak River Museum Association’s chairman, René de Kock.
The exhibition – designed by Mr. de Kock and Dr. Nick Walker, an archaeologist who serves on the board of Heritage Mossel Bay –explores the last 200,000 years in the story of our origins, and places specific emphasis on how this has impacted the local community.
“It was conceived as a way of introducing villagers to the archaeology of the Mossel Bay area, and especially to the world-leading work of the SACP4 Project,” said Mr. De Kock.
The South African Coastal Palaeoclimate, Palaeoenvironment, Palaeoecology, and Palaeoanthropology (SACP4) Project – led by Curtis Marean, an associate director of the Institute of Human Origins and professor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University – has been studying the archaeology of Mossel Bay’s Pinnacle Point Caves since 2000.
In 2007, Prof. Marean and his co-authors announced that they’d found the earliest evidence for systematic harvesting of seafood, and the earliest evidence for a complex stone tool technology in which tiny and precisely-made stone blades were embedded into other materials (probably wood or bone) to create advanced tools that gave mankind its superior hunting ability.
Later discoveries showed that the Mossel Bay area is also where humankind first learned to treat silcrete with heat in a controlled way – and so transform a rather poor quality raw stone into a top-quality material from which to make our tools; and that this is where we first worked with the pigment ochre (the earliest form of paint), which indicates that this is where symbolic behaviour – culture – began.
“But the archaeological sites are sensitive, and not everyone can see them because visitor numbers are limited, and because they’re difficult to access for people who can’t climb that many steps,” said Mr. de Kock.
“Our exhibition is designed to make the story accessible to everyone.”
The exhibition is presented as a series of panels that examine different aspects of human history: early migrations, the stone ages in South Africa (including the Middle Stone Age in Mossel Bay – which is the focus of the SACP4 Project – and the Late Stone Age in the Great Brak area), and the history of the Khoe and San people of the region.
In his introduction to the awards ceremony, Dr. Meyer wrote that it was taking place “at a time when the Mother City is celebrating its designation as World Design Capital Cape Town 2014. Those who will be honoured tonight have demonstrated that the Western Cape’s reputation as a hub of thriving diverse cultural life is no accident. It is a reputation that has been built up over many decades. Everyone who will be receiving an award tonight has made a significant contribution to our standing as a region of artistic creativity and excellence.”
“This Award is a huge honour, and well-deserved recognition of the work that the Great Brak River Museum Association and its chairman, René de Kock, do towards preserving and interpreting the history of the village as an important part of the community of Mossel Bay,” said Mossel Bay’s executive mayor, Alderlady Marie Ferreira.
“On behalf of my Council and the people of Mossel Bay, I want to congratulate the Association, and to thank you for your dedication and perseverance.
“We’re very proud of you all.”
Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm said that the archaeology of the area is becoming one of the town’s most important tourist attractions.
“Everyone is fascinated by the story of our origins, and we’re fortunate that so much of what we know about our ancient history is coming out of Mossel Bay. But, of course, it’s important that we interpret this history in order to make it accessible to the widest possible audience – and we can only congratulate René and Nick and the team at the Great Brak River Museum for what they’ve done, and for being recognised via this award,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment