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Sir Seretse Khama, the first President of Botswana once said that, "A nation without a past is a lost nation. And a people without a past is a people without a soul". I think all of us here today would agree with this sentiment and with the enormously high status which it places on the preservation of a country's heritage. Our heritage provides us with a past, it is an essential element of our national culture resource. THe importance of a heritage that reflects our history and our achievements is immeasurable because it is, at root, a question of our identity, sense of place and self-respect. This is why we celebrate International Museum Day.

Museums contribute to our national life in diverse ways, and are necessarily diverse institutions, given the wide range of South Africa's cultural, historical and natural heritage. Yet South Africa's museums have traditionally reflected sectional interests and have neglected important aspects of our country's heritage. We all know that the heritage and history of black South Africans has not been told in our museums and has been actively silenced over the years. Yet it is not only this aspect of our history that needs to be told.

What people choose to mark as official heritage provides an interesting way of understanding the dominant values of a society. Traditionally in South Africa we have focused on the documenting of war as the most prominent aspect of our heritage. We have museums to war, monuments to people who fought and died in war, exhibitions of weapons, and the preservation of battle sites. This is, in some senses, inevitable because our history has been dominated by war and conflict.

In focusing on acts of destruction, however, we have forgotten the countless acts of creation that have sustained and enriched our society. It is only now that we are beginning to identify and mark as official heritage resources the various objects, places and stories that testify to the rich cultural life of South Africans. The Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology is in the process of declaring the grave of Enoch Sontonga, the composer of Nkosi Sikelele iAfrika, a national monument. We are also making provision for the identification and conservation of the country's intangible heritage - the traditions, languages, oral histories and folklife that form part of our present as well as our past.

And today we are at the studio of South African sculptor Coert Steynberg. By restoring this studio as a museum the National Cultural History Museum is preserving an important part of our creative cultural heritage. There are so many museums depicting war, and only one museum - this one - preserving an artist's studio, and thereby displaying the complex process that goes into creating art.

In the last few months I have attended a number of retrospective art exhibitions displaying the work of black South African artists whose works have not, before now, been publicly displayed in their country of birth. As a result, many of us have never heard of these artists, or seen their work. Similarly, few people outside the Afrikaans community will have been exposed to the work of Coert Steynberg. Not having access to the works of these artists has meant that we have been denied what is rightfully ours - our common cultural heritage.

It is time for all of us who recognise the importance of museums to begin to correct this situation and redress the imbalances that exist in the heritage sphere. In accordance with the principles of access, redress and participation, the Ministry has identified two key areas of transformation. The first of these involves accessing resources and funding to ensure that what is, at present, an incomplete history becomes, for the first time, reflective of the history of all South Africans. The second must be the transformation of the existing museums and cultural institutions to ensure that they become reflective of the country's overall cultural heritage.

I believe that, apart from being a right of all citizens, the preservation of our country's heritage is essential if we are to achieve the goals of peace and national unity which we have set out for ourselves. It is through historical and living cultural heritage that people achieve a sense of roots and a sense of ourselves. So long as we are assured about the value of our own heritage and talents we have nothing to fear from being open to other cultural influences. Through heritage we are also exposed to other cultures, beliefs and ways of life. In this way, heritage can be actively used to undo the fear th hierarchy of difference.

The promotion and preservation of the cultural heritage of all South Africans is therefore essential in giving content to our political democracy. For this reason I am honoured to be here today to celebrate International Museum Day with you. I would like to thank the National Cultural History Museum for organising this event, and commend them for their efforts in restoring Coert Steynberg's studio as an important cultural resource for all South Africans.

Thank you.

Issued by: SA Communication Service

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