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SU doctorate believes museums should foster democratisation
Author: Corporate Communication / Korporatiewe Kommunikasie
Published: 22/03/2018

Although some people might think the purpose of a museum is to house old relics, Dr Gera de Villiers believes they have a crucial role in fostering democratisation and showing a community's identity.

Dr De Villiers received her PhD degree in Visual Arts on Thursday, 22 March from Stellenbosch University (SU). She is the daughter of SU's Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Wim de Villiers and his wife, Catherine.

In her study, Dr De Villiers did a comparative analysis of the semiotic landscapes of the Stellenbosch Village Museum and the Kayamandi Creative District House Museum. Her PhD journey started when she worked with Prof Elmarie Constandius of SU's Department of Visual Arts on a project to collect data of previously undocumented arts and culture that was and still is being created in the community in Kayamandi.

“With my passion for house museums, I realised that the Kayamandi Creative District House Museum and its narrative could create an interesting juxtaposition to the Stellenbosch Village Museum and its narrative in a post-apartheid, democratic South African context," says Dr De Villiers.

For her, one of the most surprising things she had learned during her study was that there are still very few inclusive museums in South Africa today, and that museological transformation has been so slow.

“As someone who had lived abroad for many years, it was interesting to have the opportunity to learn about a community different from my own and whose history and culture contributes to that of Stellenbosch, a place where my family is from," she adds.

Dr De Villiers received her undergraduate degree in Art History from Centre College in Danville Kentucky, her Master's degree in Museum Studies from Georgetown University in Washington DC (with a semester at the Sotheby's Institute of Art in London), and completed an Honours degree in Curatorship from the University of Cape Town.

“I have held internships in a number of arts organisations and museums, namely the South African National Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Wilton House Museum in Richmond, Virginia where I fell in love with house museums and the many narratives that can exist in the space – a place that is the intersection of a house and a museum, of private and public," says Dr De Villiers.

She believes museums have a responsibility to foster democratisation, and the decolonisation of their power and knowledge is essential in addressing the lack of inclusive histories and cultures represented in museums. “It is crucial for a community to be involved in creating inclusive representations of themselves within museums. The way that museums address, or fail to address, diverse histories and cultures has an effect on a community's creation of identity for and about themselves."

Dr De Villiers is currently working at Strauss & Company Fine Art Auctioneers. “In the future I hope to do a post-doctoral fellowship at a museum. My ultimate dream would be to work at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam where my love of art and museums all started," she says.

Caption: Dr Gera de Villiers (middle) with her parents, Catherine and Prof Wim de Villiers. Photo: STEFAN ELS