MuseuMAfricA

Museum Africa

Sign at the entrance to the Museum Africa
Johannesburg Central Location within South Africa
Former name	Africana Museum
Established	1933 (1933)
Location	Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa
Coordinates	26.2018684°S 28.0323377°E / -26.2018684; 28.0323377
Website	Museumwebsite

Museum Africa or MuseuMAfricA (formerly known as the Africana Museum) is an historical museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa.

History

The museum was established in 1933, when the Johannesburg Public Library bought a large quantity of Africana material and books from John Gaspard Gubbins. From the mid-1930s, the museum's scope widened to include all aspects of African cultural history and material culture.

In 1994, after the fall of apartheid and the institution of democratic government in South Africa, the museum was refurbished and renamed MuseuMAfricA.

Location

The museum is housed in the city's former fruit and vegetable market in Newtown, built in 1913, located opposite Mary Fitzgerald Square, on the same block as the Market Theatre.

Collections

The museum has collections of African material culture from across the continent, including noted collections of tokens, musical instruments and head-rests. Museum Africa houses The Geology Museum and the Bensusan Museum of Photography.

The Bensusan Museum of Photography collects rare and valuable precision-made photographic equipment and pictures made using this equipment including wet-plate prints, stereoscopic views and digital images.

The Geology Museum collection consists of over 17,000 rock and mineral samples from Southern Africa, including many type samples and samples from the Tsumeb area of Namibia, the Witwatersrand reefs, and Okiep area.

References

• City of Johannesburg website information