GLAM/Newsletter/June 2012/Contents/Africa report
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WikiAfrica Content Partnerships and Knowledge Projects
Museums in Africa Sharing their Knowledge
The WikiAfrica project has continued its work by approaching museums and cultural institutions to upload their content under the CC-BY-SA license to Wikipedia as part of its Share Your Knowledge Africa programme. In June, it incorporated seven additional museums as GLAM Content Partners with others in the final stages of formalizing the partnership and signing the agreement. The following are Africa’s newest GLAMs:
'Phuthidikabo Museum-Botswana'
The Phuthidikabo Museum is located in a small village of Mochudi, Botswana. As the Director Mr. Vincent Phemelo Rapoo clearly outlines in the partnership agreement with WikiAfrica.
“The project will greatly enhance the image of our museum and also provide a tool for information sharing for posterity and benchmarking. At Phuthadikobo Museum it is something that we have always wanted so as to share our culture and history to the rest of the world while at the same time promoting our country and indeed our district as we have an ambitious goal for Cultural Heritage Tourism”.
The museum was established in 1976 and is the first district museum in Botswana.
'Musart Gallery-Cameroon'
The Musa Heritage Gallery (shortly Mus’Art Gallery) was established in December 1996 in honor of the Cameroonian artists Daniel Kanjo Musa (1930–1995) and his eldest son John Yuniwo Musa (1956–1996).
It houses a collection of over 400 art objects that were mainly created between 1970 and 2000 and range from bamboo work to wood carvings, and from basketry to pottery.
The Director of Musart Gallery Mr. Peter Musa says “I feel so happy you were able to include me in this project…I hope we work together to make WikiAfrica a success story”.
'Matengatenga Postal Museum –Malawi'
The Postal Museum in Matengatenga, Malawi, is under the stewardship of its Director, Mr Aaron Maluwa. It is among the few postal museums on the continent and the participation of this museum as a WikiAfrica content partner gives the museum and the project an insight into the postal history in Africa. There are currently six postal museums in Africa: the Post Museum in Egypt; the German Postal Museum, Kenya; the National Postal Museum in Mauritius; the Morocco Postal Museum; and the South African Post Office Museum.
'Blackitude Museum-Cameroon'
The Museum located in Yaoundé was founded by Her Majesty Queen Agnes Nana Fo Nab and has a wonderful collection of masks, traditional chiefs’ gowns, and other artifacts. The partnership with Wiki Africa will stimulate sharing of knowledge between the museums and play a big role in cultural tourism in Cameroon.
'Gambia National Museum-Gambia'
The Gambia National Museum is a cultural museum located in Banjul that has a rich display of artifacts. The museum’s goal is to collect and preserve artifacts that document the material culture of The Gambia. In accepting the partnership the Director of Cultural Heritage Mr. Baba Ceesay noted, “This is a good initiative and we welcome it. We will gladly participate”. Mr. Hasooum Ceesay, who oversees the museum, is actively involved in the partnership.
'Uganda National Museum- Uganda'
The Uganda National Museum, founded in 1908 in Kampala, has exhibits of traditional culture, archeology, history, science, and natural history. Under the leadership of its Director Mrs. Rose Mwanja, the museum plays a significant role in issues affecting the society and recently held an exhibition on Food Security.
'Zanzibar National Museum- Zanzibar-Tanzania '
The participation of the Zanzibar National Museum as a content partner for the project will significantly help in sharing the knowledge of this historical beautiful island, which is the birth place of the Kiswahili language spoken in East and Central Africa. The Director of the Museum Mr Khamis Abdalla Ali, in the partnership communications raised concern that what is publicized in the internet about their museum is by other people and not by them. The project will enable them to share their knowledge and tell their side of the story.
Wiki Africa is proud to be associated with these museums and welcomes them on board as we look forward to the finalization of the remaining agreements from the other museums in the continent.
Africa's past in images
A case study about The National Archives' special contribution to the Share Your Knowledge project is now available on the Italian Wikipedia. You can find more about this stunning collection of African pictures (from 1860s to 1980s) in the UK report for this month, which links to both the Italian and English pages.
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