The Apartheid Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, South Africa, illustrating

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and the 20th-century

history of South Africa The first modern humans are believed to have inhabited South Africa more than 100,000 years ago. South Africa's prehistory has been divided into two phases based on broad patterns of technology namely the Stone Age and Iron Age. After the d ...

. The museum, part of the

Gold Reef City Gold Reef City is an amusement park in Johannesburg, South Africa. Located on an old gold mine which closed in 1971, the park is themed around the gold rush that started in 1886 on the Witwatersrand, the buildings on the park are designed ...

complex, was opened in November 2001. At least five times a year, events are held at the museum to celebrate the end of apartheid and the start of multiracial democracy for the people of South Africa. Apartheid Museum Entrance, Johannesburg.JPG, The

racially-segregated Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Internati ...

entrance to the museum Apartheidmuseumhall.JPG, Taxi rank sign in entrance hall South Africa - Gauteng - Apartheid Museum.JPG, The Apartheid Museum, 2005 Persoonskaart5.JPG, Expired South African identity card Apartheidmuseumpool.JPG, The pool of reflection Nelson Mandela Artwork at Apartheid Museum by Marco Cianfanelli.jpg, Replica of Nelson Mandela Artwork at Apartheid Museum by

Marco Cianfanelli Marco Cianfanelli (born 30 November 1970) is a South African artist who has been involved in a wide range of projects involving art, architecture and public spaces. Cianfanelli combines computer-generated, data-driven applications with human, e ...

Exhibits

The Pillars of the Constitution is the first exhibit visitors see when visiting the Apartheid Museum. Located in the courtyard, it includes one pillar for each of the seven values that are enshrined in the South African Constitution: democracy, equality, reconciliation, diversity, responsibility, respect and freedom. Race Classification is both an entry point and exhibit. Apartheid was built on divisions by race: native, white, coloured, and Asian. Required identity documents indicated one's race, and these are on view in this exhibit. Visitors to the museum have just entered at this point, using one of two entrances, white and non-white, based on randomly generated entrance tickets. The actual items one sees in the exhibit is determined by which entry point one has had to use. The next exhibit, which is outside on the way to the museum building, is Journeys. It includes large photos of the descendants of individuals who came to Johannesburg in the aftermath of the discovery of gold in 1886. There was a wide racial diversity amongst these individuals. Apartheid was designed to segregate individuals from different races. When walking through this exhibit, one encounters the backs of these individuals, as if they are walking in the same direction as the visitor is heading. By turning back once one has passed a photograph, it is possible to see the person from the front. The Segregation exhibit provides background on the official policy of segregation that became a feature of the union of South Africa, which was formed in 1910. Blacks and white women were not allowed to vote under this policy. Segregation laid the way for apartheid. Apartheid Museum Journeys Exhibit Image

References

External links

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Apartheid Museum Guide
Museums established in 2001 Museums in Johannesburg Organisations associated with apartheid Apartheid museums {{SouthAfrica-museum-stub