Facilties at the National Heritage Cultural Studies Centre

• The Cultural Complex
• The New National Heritage Cultural Studies Centre Building
  • Facilities for Visitors to the Centre
  • Facilties for Collection Management and Preservation
• The Inaguration and Official Opening

The Cultural Complex

An integrated state-of-the-art Cultural Complex is currently under development for the University of Fort Hare. The Cultural Complex will include the recently completed NAHECSC building (pictured above), the existing DeBeers Art Gallery (see the museum section to view a picture of that facility), and a concourse connecting the two, which will house cultural and resistance art.

The New National Heritage Cultural Studies Centre Building

In 1994, the University of Fort Hare received a generous grant from the Anglo-American and De Beers Chairman's Fund to build the premises for the National Heritage Cultural Studies Centre (pictured above). The construction process began in June 1996, with first sod turning taking place on 17 February 1997. Construction was completed in December 1997. The new facilities will open to the public on 20 September 1998.

The NAHECSC building has capacity to meet the needs of both the museum and archival holdings fo the University of Fort Hare. Provision has been made specifically for the following:

Museum holdings Conservation facilities Professional services Fellowships

Archival holdings Administrative services Academic and research functions Electronic collections management systems

The new National Heritage Cultural Studies Centre building will house a search room, computer laboratory, audio-visual room, and offices for research and visiting scholars.

The new National Heritage Cultural Studies Centre building has the capacity to house several thousand linear metres of shelving. Since the University of Fort Hare Heritage holdings currently amount to a small portion of this capacity, the building has great potential as a site for future heritage collection donations.

In addition to storage of standard paper documents, the building also has the appropriate storage systems for audio-visual recordings, museum artefacts, microfilm, posters and other oversized materials.

In order to ensure the long-term integrity of its collections, the Centre has provisions for a conservation studio where both museum and archival materials will be treated for infestation; a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system; fire detection; halogen gas fire suppression; and a modern centralized security system.

The Inaguration and Official Opening

The official opening of our new facilities signifies an essential interface between culture and business. It is a milestone in the recognition of culture heritage and culture as basis of development. It highlights the importance of establishing partnerships between the University of Fort Hare and the corporate sector.

The official opening on 20 September 1998 will mark the crystallization of the African resistance programme at the University of Fort Hare. This will be evident in the series of cultural production events that will precede and follow this important day. These will include concerts, seminars, conferences, workshops, symposia, research projects, academic programmes and outreach programmes whose dominant themes will be African identity, African development, multiculturalism and management of the arts. Some highlights include:

• Cultural Production and Outreach -- Cultural production programmes that will celebrate not only the official opening but also the National Heritage Week include concerts, musical and cultural performances.
• Exhibitions -- A major exhibition drawn on the University Museum collections commemorating the declaration event will be installed. It is planned that the exhibition will travel nationally and internationally.
• Virtual Exhibition -- A virtual exhibition which will cover the various activities of the Centre and which will market electronically the various collections of the Centre is planned and will be ready before the official opening.
• Video Production -- There is a plan for video production which covers the history of the National Heritage Cultural Studies Centre, including the history, scope, function and facilities of the Building. The production locates the new facility in the cultural map of the Eastern Cape and outlines the contribution the new facility seeks to make to cultural development provincially, nationally and internationally. The production will also relate current and future activities of the new facility adn Centre to the vision and mission of the University of Fort Hare.
• NAHECSC Web Presence -- This Web site has been developed in an effort to promote and spread awareness of the NAHECSC collections and activities.
• Museum Catalogue Launch -- An electronic catalogue of all University Museum holdings is under development and will be unveiled during the opening.
• Official Opening of the Liberation Archives and Cultural Heritage Archives -- These materials will be opened for research and public access during the official opening.
• Workshops and Conferences -- These will cover such issues as cultural rights, culture & identity, and oral history.

For more details about the activities surrounding the grand opening, see our calendar of events.