German museum experts tour Eastern Cape

THREE German delegates will spend the next three weeks crisscrossing the Eastern Cape to visit museums as part of a cultural exchange.

The exchange is part of a twinning agreement with the German federal state of Lower Saxony.

A number of workshops will be conducted at museums on cost-effective techniques that can be used in the preservation of specimens.

Dr Alexis von Poser, one of the delegates, said the majority of South African culture and heritage was still on full display unlike in the majority of European countries.

“We hope to learn a lot about the South African culture. We hope that our stay and the workshops that we will host may be of value to the museums that we are going to visit,” said Von Poser, speaking at a dinner hosted by the provincial department of sports, recreation, arts and culture (DSRAC) on Tuesday evening.

The initiative is a result of the twinning agreement which was first signed in 1995 between the Eastern Cape and Lower Saxony in Germany.

The agreement was renewed this year by premier Phumulo Masualle and the deputy minister of Lower Saxony, Stefan Wenzel.

DSRAC HoD Mzolisi Matutu said the cultural exchange programme was a new component to the agreement. —