Preserving our culture, heritage

 Tables are crowded on the covered patio and I had constant battle with a plastic pot plant at my elbow.  Restaurant doubles as a Karaoke joint at weekends and the sound system was being tested very loudly. The waiter did close the interleading door, but why can’t this be done in the afternoon when the restaurant is empty?
Peri-Peri chicken US$10, prawns US$16 and sardines at a hefty US$4 each were all very satisfying.  The chillie sauce on the table required very sparing application – but a tin of olive oil arrived to authentically anoint the sardines. The vegetarian among us was bemused at chicken and veg listed as a vegetarian option – but luckily he eats seafood so was satisfied with squid.  A casual friendly ambience made for a nice night out. Dinner for six including a few beers (we brought our own wine) was US$90.
One of our party was talking about the demise and neglect of our National Museum. Currently based in New York she is enjoying the wealth of cultural spaces that city offers – galleries, museums, monuments, libraries. Sure we can’t compete on that scale, but we should be able to take pride in our public spaces. Our museum is a window into our history and heritage – currently looking rather dim and dusty with light bulbs not replaced and people and animals moth eaten and with missing eyes. Staff are disinterested and the water feature – once a source of much admiration – is stagnant and dirty.
Our public spaces are ‘out of flow.’ Next door to the museum, the City Library was almost dead before being resuscitated by a campaign passionately headed by writer Pettina Gappah. With a leaking roof, holes in the floors and books threatened by termites – an institution that once provided a safe refuge for children, scholars and book lovers would have quietly decayed but for the energy of a committed private person.
The National Gallery does slightly better but only truly comes to life as a vibrant space once a year during HIFA. Currently the Gallery is hosting two wonderful exhibitions – local artist John Kotze on the ground floors, and  ‘Maputo, A Tale of One City’ on the upper floor – an unusual journey combining photography, video, painting, installation and drawing.  But the gallery is nearly deserted, a great pity, as these exhibitions offer a unique opportunity to open up the imagination.
HIFA last year hosted a bizarre interactive show in a upper corner of the gallery – where a person wired up like a robot and responding in sometimes startling ways to buttons pressed by the audience, provided a Frankenstein like experience to children alternating between fascination and fear – but stretching the imagination.  Only visible interaction now comes from an internet café tacked onto a space between the shop and the café.
Hopefully reopening the Gallery Café will help attract people to this central city space. Newly revamped the café is fresh and modern – with a central counter and kitchen neatly fitted under the stairs leaving a clear view to the sculpture garden. Kerry Wallace of Shop Café has taken over the restaurant. Currently offering teas, coffee and snacks – sandwiches, muffins and cakes – from February The Gallery Café will be open for lunch, featuring their signature buffet or a choice of two to three hot meals served with green salad for a set US$10.
Lets hope for more energy from public authorities – joining the private sector to revive important city spaces.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com