Wednesday 29 May Speaker: Carla du Toit Title: What skeletons can tell: Insights from probe-foraging birds
Non-Profit Organisation 052-511-NPO Postal address: PO Box 61 Cape Town 8000 South Africa Physical address: 25 Queen Victoria Street Cape Town South Africa Phone: 021 481 3913 Cell: 072 225 6893 E-mail: samfriends@iziko.org.za Website http://www.iziko.org.za/ http://www.iziko.org.za/static/page/friends-of-the-southafrican-museum
Above: Dr Hayley Cawthra
NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2019
OUTINGS Please do look at our Facebook page for notices, news and photographs of previous outings. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-ofthe-South-African-Museum/310188388996502 Booking and advance payment to secure your booking is essential for all outings. To secure your booking, please respond by email samfriends@iziko.org.za
The Friends programme continues to offer interesting lecture topics and exciting activities. We hope you will participate and enjoy these. We welcome suggestions from members; please contact us should you come across exciting events and lectures.
LECTURE PROGRAMME
30 March SANCCOB REPEAT: Guided tour of SANCCOB facility
Lectures on the last Wednesday of each month at 18:00 in the TH Barry lecture theatre. The programme for lectures and outings is subject to change should this become necessary.
8 April Eskom Palmiet Power Eskom Palmiet Pumped Power Storage Visit 15 April Groote Schuur Estate REPEAT: Guided tour of the homestead, view artefacts & history
Wednesday 27 March Speaker: Dr Dean Allen Title: Empire, war and cricket: the incredible
story of Matjiesfontein
OUTINGS - REPORT BACKS
Wednesday 24 April Speaker: Dr Hayley Cawthra Title: Secrets of the deep: how seafloor
PROF ROGER SMITH LECTURE – NOVEMBER 2018
mapping reveals evidence for a submerged and extinct terrestrial landscape
The Friends ended 2018 on a high note. Cheese and wine, generously sponsored by 1
Fairview, was enjoyed by all before the final lecture of the year given by Prof Roger Smith. Images of Friends’ outings displayed on the screen in the gathering space to remind members of the activities during the year proved to be a great success.
fully recovered. Birds use these pools for exercise and they are checked to ensure their feathers are waterproof before being released. The hospital area is impressive, administration there is much like our human hospitals. On admission, each bird patient gets a tag, then a chart detailing blood work, weight, ailments, name of the person dealing with the bird and its progress. This information is later put on the computer and is shared internationally.
Well-known to Friends fossil enthusiasts, Roger is always a very popular speaker, resulting in a full house. After showing the link between fossils in the Karoo and Antarctica, we heard about Roger’s Antarctica expedition and enjoyed his beautiful photographs. It was fascinating to hear about Roger’s personal experiences in the harsh conditions in Antarctica.
As the numbers of penguins have been severely reduced in recent years, SANCCOB’s work is vital to prevent them becoming extinct, which is possible in the next ten or fifteen years. Alex stressed that the public can make a contribution to prevent this by not using single use plastic items or plastic shopping bags and only eating sustainable fish.
The evening was an exciting end to a successful and eventful year of lectures and outings.
Charlotte Honiball SANCCOB The Friends first outing of the year was very popular and well attended, so much so that we immediately arranged a return visit to accommodate everyone on the waiting list. Ably led by Alex, one of the twenty four permanent staff members, we saw the well organised facilities and heard the fascinating facts about what actually happens there. The thirty seven year old establishment has been newly refurbished to bring about a necessary update. There is a pen for permanent stays of mostly penguins who have been injured or have become used to humans to the extent that they would not survive on their own. We were able to view the charming inmates, all of whom have been named. Flo has been with them for twenty years, the life expectancy in captivity being up to twenty five years but in the wild, this is reduced to fifteen to twenty years. We learnt that penguins are similar in nature to cats, being very curious and stubborn.
Above: Penguins, photo by Kathy Jay
Above: Flamingo chicks, photo by Mark Diskin
Temporary pools house injured and recovering birds which will be released once they have
The workload has been greatly increased by the arrival of some 600 lesser flamingo chicks 2
from Kimberley. Although there were some casualties, the remaining chicks are doing well and we were thrilled to see the first few being taken out into the sunshine to enjoy the outdoors. They are weighed each morning and are growing at about 10% of their body mass daily. The chicks are fed every three hours. There has been huge public interest which has resulted in a stream of volunteers to assist in feeding, cleaning of equipment, mixing feed and many other necessary jobs. SANCCOB is funded by donations and sponsors. During our visit, people kept dropping off much needed items for the chicks and some of our party had brought along items to donate.
This exhibition has toured Germany and Sweden where it was very well received. We were fortunate to have the organisers of these exhibitions attend the talk in Cape Town and heard how these works were securely individually packaged to ensure safe transportation. Maureen was then rushed off to give a radio interview and we were able to enjoy the sculptures as well as other beautiful work in the gallery.
Charlotte Honiball
Charlotte Honiball THE HUNT EXHIBITION WITH MAUREEN QUIN A selection of bronze sculptures was on display at the Cape Gallery in Church Street, Cape Town. The Friends joined Maureen Quin who talked about her philosophy to life which has an influence on her art.
Above: "Hunter" depicts the animal nature of man on the back of a cheetah 'riding the earth'. Photo by Kathy Jay.
She does not approve of war, is passionate about animals and does not approve of the land these animals roam being used for building and expansion. With that information, she explained each of the sculptures and what they represent to her. This was fascinating as we had time to study the art before her talk began. Some of us had a completely different idea of what they were about. Maureen told us that although she had studied human anatomy during her sculpture training, she had to find out about animal muscles and bones. As her very first animal sculpture was a cheetah, she went to the cheetah rehabilitation centre where she was able to feel the animal and analyse the muscles, joints and bones. As this is difficult to observe on animals with fur, being able to touch and feel the animal was very beneficial to her work. Her attention to detail is impressive.
HEART OF CAPE TOWN MUSEUM The Friends visited The Heart of Cape Town Museum at Groote Schuur Hospital, which honours the first human heart transplant by Chris Barnard. This privately owned museum opened in December 2007, marking the fortieth anniversary of the heart transplant and all those who played major roles in this surgical feat which ushered in a new medical era. The museum also casts light on the ethical and moral implications of this surgical procedure and highlights how this accomplishment put South Africa and the University of Cape Town on the international stage. Chris Barnard was certainly one of the most outstanding sons of South Africa. He was a brilliant medical man and pioneer with an incredible work ethic.
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NEW MEMBERS
The museum is located in the Old Main Building at Groote Schuur Hospital in the theatres in which the first heart transplant was performed in December 1967 when Denise Darvall and her mother were rushed into the hospital after being struck by a car. The recipient of her heart was Louis Washkansky, a 54-year-old grocer who suffered from diabetes and incurable heart disease.
Welcome to the following new members: Peter and Dee Myers, Dieter Heiser, Mervyn Bennun, Warwick Johnson, Noreen Osler, Lauren Muller, Paddy Walker, Eleanore Biggs, Camilla Lloyd, Cecilia Liebenberg, Thandi Mnyebeleza and Andrea Schachler. Please note that membership renewals were due at the end of December 2018. If your membership is not renewed you will no longer be on the mailing list for information regarding lectures and outings.
Our guided tour of the museum started with a representation of the car accident that provided the heart for the transplant, through to the animal laboratory where Barnard conducted experiments on more than fifty dogs to perfect the technique of heart transplantation. From there we saw a model of Denise Darvall's bedroom and Barnard's office before seeing a recreation of the surgery as well as a recreation of Louis Washkansky's recovery room. A film provided information about the heart transplant and the events leading up to it.
Charlotte Honiball Friends of Iziko South African Museum
Above: Recreation of Dr Barnard’s office, photo by Kathy Jay. The museum also features a long hallway filled with letters of acclaim and criticism for and about Barnard which shows the ethical backlash and international attention the surgery received. At the completion of the tour, we were given time to explore and study these interesting items in more detail.
Charlotte Honiball
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