The Stellenbosch University (SU) Museum helps us to understand our world through its different collections – be it cultural history or visual arts.
And according to Prof Leopold van Huyssteen, acting Rector and Vice-Chancellor of SU, this is a continuous task. Because the world is constantly in a state of change. "And so are we – as individuals as well as an institution."
Van Huyssteen was the keynote speaker at the opening of the Museum's exhibition Stellenbosch University - Past Present Future on Wednesday evening (18 February 2015).
He quoted the American architecture critic, Martin Filler: "What a museum chooses to exhibit is sometimes less important than how such decisions are made and what values inform them."
He added: "The SU Museum is not a sterile place frozen in time, but a living, breathing space, where the past is brought alive and the future within reach."
Although SU officially opened on 2 April 1918 and the university consequently celebrates its centenary in 2018, the Act paving the way for the former Victoria College to became a university was passed in 1916. Two years later SU officially came into being.
A milestone in the university's history is the celebration of the founding of the Het Jan Marais Nationale Fonds on 30 May 1915, through which SU benefactor Jan Marais bequeathed the money to establish the institution.
"With the opening in 1918 there were 558 enrolled students. Today we have close to 30 000 students, and since 1918 the University has bestowed more than 222 000 qualifications – to the benefit of not only those who graduated but to the community," said Van Huyssteen.
"We are Africa's No 1 research-productive university, our first-year retention rate is more that 86%, our undergraduate success rate is the best in South Africa and we excel at a range of sporting an cultural activities."
Mr Bongani Mgijima, Director of the museum said that museums are notorious for focusing on the past "as if life suddenly came to an end".
Referring to Duncan Cameron, a director of the Brooklyn museum in America, who described the museum as either a temple for the admiration of objects, or a forum for dialogue about important issues, Mgijima said the museum as temple is a sacred space where people, wishing to escape the realities outside the museum, can flee to.
But, if it is regarded as a forum, the museum becomes a space where ideas and "truths" can be challenged.
"The museum as forum accepts that its truths are not the only truths and that the voice of the museum is not necessary the only voice," said Mgijima.
"It becomes a lively and noisy arena for experimentation. A safe space for meaningful conversations about the past, present and the future."
Mgijima added that the university museum of the future has to be future-focused, transformative, innovative and inclusive – the same values contained in SU's Vision 2030. The task of a museum of the future is to honour the past with the goal of creating an acceptable future."
Prof Matilda Burden, curator of this exhibition, said the aim of this exhibition is to reflect SU's past, present and future factually – without interpretation, speculation or commentary.
"Should he wish to do so, it is up to the individual visitor to speculate," she said.
- The University Museum is located at 52 Ryneveld St, Stellenbosch, and is open to the public six days of the week, Mon to Sat, 08:00-16:30.
- For more information on the exhibition click here.
- Photo: Visitors take a closer look at the scale model of the Old Main Building, or Ou Hoofgebou. (Photographer: Desmond Thompson)
How Die Neelsie came into being
Walking through the exhibition is indeed an interesting experience. On old photographs from the 1940s and 1950s the formal hairstyles, neat dresses of the women and the suits of the men catches the eye.
Compare these photographs with those taken recently, and the contrast is startling: women students dressed in short shorts, men with long hair, sloppy T-shirts and shorts, men and women wearing flip flops.
Although the students on the old photographs seem rather strict and seriously academic, it seems there was nonetheless time for some fun – as the photographs of the different dance societies show.
The Jan Pierewiet revue group has a particularly interesting history and is directly linked to Die Neelsie student centre.
According to Burden the company got its name from the old Afrikaans folk song, Jan Pierewiet. This revue company was founded in 1937 and the members soon made it clear they wanted a recreation centre. They would name it after the poet CJ Langenhoven (Sagmoedige Neelsie) who had passed away in 1931.
They knew they would not get any money from the authorities, and started touring in order to obtain money for the centre.
When the company was dissolved in the 1950s, there was still no centre, but quite a substantial amount of money in the bank. In the 1970s the university authorities decided to build a student centre – with the money of the Jan Pierewiet company. And this is how Die Neelsie – official name CJ Langenhoven Student Centre – came into being.
- Photo: The Jan Pierewiet entertainment group in 1952. This band of students raised funds for a student centre at Maties.
