South African Museums...Olympic Training!

Hello All,

The blog has been very quiet lately...it's 'summer' (so they say!)...but I just got back from the World Economic History Congress at the University of Stellenbosch, near Cape Town, last week (it was winter there...cold and wet...just like Leeds!).......the conference was HUGE...see: http://www.wehc2012.org/
I had organised a conference session with a friend and colleague of mine (Manuel Charpy...University of Lille) called 'Encountering the Exotic'..(so no explicit museum-related theme...but what are museums if not 'Exotic'!)....

National Art Gallery, Cape Town

  Anyway, thought I'd tell you all about a few museums I went to look at in Cape Town and Stellenbosch (and bore you all!) in my usual trawl around museums - it's also Olympic Year in London, so I might try to get 'museum-visiting' as an Olympic Sport for 2016!...I'm in training for such an event (been in training for years and years actually!)...and I popped into quite a few museums in my SA training regime....basically all on this SA site: http://www.iziko.org.za/

I won't tell you about them all...don't worry, but I did pop in to the South African National Art Gallery...(which was slightly
disappointing, at least in terms of size...('no offence' - read that in an SA accent!)...but had some fabulous displays....

Michaelis Collection, Cape Town

  I think I preferred the Michaelis Collection in the Old Town Hall...a fantastic collection of Dutch and Flemish pictures....a legacy of Dutch Colonial history no doubt....

Anyway....I've got lots of other SA Museum visits to share as part of my Olympic Training....watch out for the museum blur...

Mark