Margaret Bourke-White (1904-71)
Sandy Grant | Thursday May 22, 2014 16:15
From recall, Ghandi in this film was supposedly so well aware of her reputation that he greeted her by name on their first meeting. Had we done things in a different way in the past, many of us would have known of her not because of this film but because of the stunning photos she took of Seretse and Ruth in 1950 in Serowe and London.
Forty or so years after its inception, Lonely Planet suggests to visitors to the National Museum, where her photos should long ago have been on display, that ‘If you come with expectations reasonably lowered, you may enjoy this small, neglected museum. It’s a good way to kill an hour if you’re into taxidermy; exhibits of stuffed animals sit between those on pre-colonial and colonial history - it’s curious how there is next to no mention of the San, Botswana’s first inhabitants.
In the art gallery section, there’s a permanent collection of traditional and modern African and European art.’ It is possible that this dismissive comment has been overtaken by events because the Museum, now closed I believe, may be undergoing a much-needed makeover.
It may be premature, therefore to suggest that it long ago lost its way, its purpose its vision and is now, its exhibitions and its outreach programmes apart, a stuffed animal of the kind that it has been displaying for the last 40 years.
The result appears to be today a State owned educational institution which barely educates and which is entrapped, ironically, by its past and is unable to break free to create an entirely new exciting role for itself. Or perhaps even know what that role should be! What role the government believed that it was performing was probably a mystery; but then it never much cared.
All capital cities have national museums. In this role, the National Museum should be left to itself. But elsewhere a national gallery of the country’s magnificent, mouth watering archival photos such as Margaret Bourke-White’s of Seretse and Ruth should be established.
It could be done.
And the old unused Gaborone prison is the obvious place.
If, however, this idea is discounted, another candidate could be the Odi Weavers. The government is currently committed to developing plans for the continuation and resuscitation of this remarkable project with whose establishment in 1973 I was very closely involved.
The Weavers possess extensive land, much of it unutilised, which could and should be used for other related projects. A National Gallery would bring related life not only to whatever will be proposed for the Weavers but would fit logically together with the College of Arts and Applied Craft .
It would also bring much needed life and new invigoration to at least one of Gaborone’s rural suburbs.
Personally, I dearly want this country, especially its youth, to know and enjoy Margaret Bourke-White’s amazing 1950s photos. Nearly 50 years after Independence it really is time that the young and the foreign tourists are given access to the country’s visual archival record. A new National Gallery displaying, not least, Bourke-White’ s Botswana photos would be an exciting new asset for a key part of the country which is neither wild life nor wilderness.
Due to technical problems, this column is appearing in our Thursday edition instead of our Wednesday edition. Any inconvenience is regretted.