Fostering Archive Awareness at Art Museums in South Africa

Abstract The purpose of this article is to emphasise the importance of exhibiting archival records in art museum spaces as a knowledge development and information dissemination stance. The article also draws attention to the limitations that are encountered in fostering the public programming of archives through digital technology in art museums. The 2013 Revised White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage states that cultural and creative industries should ensure that as many South Africans as possible have access to arts, culture, and heritage offerings, and this includes archival records. However, art museum archives continue to be exclusionist and often act as historical, social, and information barriers for end users. This qualitative study accentuates the importance of physical and remote public programming activities for art museums and art galleries. The study followed a phenomenological research approach and explored the experiences and perceptions of art museum end users in relation to the adequacy of archive public programming. The findings suggest that exhibiting archival holdings at art museums can create awareness among audiences and expose such audiences to cultural history through the archival exhibits, which could be shared externally through digital media.