Unboxing Mayibuye: Access to Digital Heritage

The “Unboxing Mayibuye – Access to Digital Heritage” project was launched in 2022. It is a three-year partnership project between the Robben Island Museum (RIM), the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA), and the Agence Française de Dévelopment (AFD). Unboxing Mayibuye is a capacity-building project that aims to establish a framework for digital preservation within the Mayibuye Archives, the Collections Unit of the Robben Island Museum. A further outcome of the project is the design and production of cultural deliverables such as a website and exhibits.  These aim to provide public access to the selected, digitised collections. 

Following a short documentary screening, panellists will discuss the challenges of public access and personal privacy within a living archive, the opportunities and challenges presented by international partnerships, and the impact that new technologies, innovation and creativity can have on sustainability within a heritage institution, as well as on reaching broader constituencies.

Moderator: Dr Koni Benson – Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the Western Cape

Panellists:

• Steve Kwena Mokwena (South Africa) – Curator Robben Island Museum, Heritage Department, and Founder and Curator of the Afrikan Freedom Station

• Thomas Monteil (France) – INA Unboxing Mayibuye Project Manager

• Zandile Tshamlambo – Unboxing Mayibuye Project Assistant

• Mariki Victor – Robben Island Museum Collections Unit Manager