About Us
We provide educational and cross-cultural experiences
The Cape Heritage Museum, located at the historic Castle of Good Hope, is a community and non-profit entity.
OUR VISION
The vision of the museum is to be a leading cultural institution to showcase, educate and preserve the arts, history, politics, culture and rich heritage that both Cape Muslims, their slave and/or indigenous ancestors contributed to South Africa and the world.
OUR MISSION
The mission of the museum is to provide educational and cross-cultural experiences as well as creating dialogue.
It showcases the artistic and cultural heritage of Muslims in South Africa and historically marginalised societies abroad, through an emotive visual story.
The Founder
It’s been my dream to share with you the unedited story of South Africa.
Igshaan Higgins
Founder & Curator
The founder and curator, Mr Igshaan Higgins is a human rights lawyer and a vociferous advocate of freedom of speech guaranteed by Section 16 of the South African Constitution.
The museum exhibition may delight, inspire, astonish, illuminate, challenge, unsettle, confound, provoke, and, at times, even offend.
The Cape Heritage Museum defends the freedom to procure and/or create content and exhibit such works, which highlights the privilege of living in a country where experiencing such exhibits is a constitutional right.
The museum collects and displays the artefacts, statues, portraits, paintings and photographs of men and women who made a significant contribution to South Africa past and present.
The South African political landscape is showcased in its natural form from the time of Dutch occupation right up to where we are at present.
The exhibits do not endorse the work or the vision, ideas, and opinions of the founder, the board, sponsors or staff.
It is to uphold the right of all to experience diverse visions and views. If and when controversies arise from the exhibition of a work of art or artefacts, we welcome public discussion and debate with the belief that such discussion is integral to the experience of the exhibits.
Consistent with our fundamental commitment to freedom of speech, however, we will not censor exhibitions in response to political or ideological pressure.
The museum narrates the unedited history through a display which is arranged chronologically starting with the Portuguese and Dutch interaction with the indigenous people of the Cape and weaving through colonialism, emancipation of slavery, imperialism, apartheid, pass laws, separate development, the tot system and many other challenges that South Africans experienced over the past 400 years.
An array of
exhibits,
photographs
and arts
Social issues like gentrification in Bo Kaap, the forced removals in District Six, the effects of apartheid legislation like the Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act, social cohesion between Muslims, Jewish, Christian, Xhosa, Khoisan and other African Indigenous Groups and Asian diasporas which shaped contemporary South Africa are examined through an array of exhibits, photographs and art.
In addition, the museum examines the role of the Cape Minstrels and the Cape Malay Choir Board through the challenges of slavery, apartheid and liberation.
There are exquisite works of art by Patrick, Ally, David, Ebersohn and many others.
The Museum’s operational hours are the same as that of the Castle of Good Hope.