The dynamic Talana Museum is once again on the move. Founded over 30 years ago to commemorate the 1979 centenary of the Anglo Zulu War, the Museum has again kept up with modern trends by revamping the much-vaunted Anglo Zulu War exhibit.
Red-coated soldiers and Zulu warriors were at the opening of the exhibition, along with representatives of the local tourism industry and friends of the Museum.
Pam McFadden, Museum curator, said she was especially pleased that the project, that took about two years to complete, was done 'in house' with the new signage done by local business, D & E, and research undertaken by Museum staff.
The Board of Trustees paid for the improvements. A piper, David Wait, led guests into the Museum where Paul Garner,
who was on the committee that founded Dundee's Museum 30 years ago, officially opened the exhibition.
In his address Paul sketched the history of the Museum. "Prior to Talana, Dundee had the Moth Shellhole Museum and the town museum which was just two rooms in the old Dundee Primary School - now the Majuba College opposite the Post Office. "When I was in Library and Museum Services in the late 1970s there was a drive for all small towns in Natal to start Museums as run up to the centenary of the Anglo Zulu War
"A committee driven by the legendary Sheila Henderson was formed and our first task was to encourage the townsfolk to fish out their 'old grannie and grandad's' stuff out of the attic that we could use as a basis of some kind of Museum."
Paul added that with Dundee at the centre of the battlefields in the Province it was important for the town to have the best Museum. The locals responded magnificently, bringing in their artefacts, which were then sorted and put on display at the Moth Hall.
0 comments:
Post a Comment