Hidden Cape Town

​It is rare that one is able to go behind the exhibitions of major historical buildings and museums and see where the hidden treasures are stored, sorted and catalogued for future exhibitions.

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

Thomas Merton​

Our art guide, Diana Williams from Art Trails was able to view the private rooms and storage areas of the Castle of Good Hope with a client. Curator of Social History Collections for Iziko Museums, Esther Esmyol (see photo) invited Diana and her client, art historian Jocelyn, to the private rooms of the Kat at the Castle, where she has curated the William Fehr Collection of colonial South African art along with antique furniture, household and decorative items.​

Priceless porcelain, fine art and decorative art objects are kept in the rooms of the one-time Governor's home, The Kat. Diana and her client were able to view them, transporting them back in time to the colonial past of the colony, once under the rule of the Dutch East Indian Company during the 17th and 18th centuries. Esther enthused about the treasures of the Dutch Cape preserved at many of Iziko's living museums.​Come join us on a journey through the colonial past, imagining the Dutch East Indian ships sailing back and forth from Batavia and the East, carrying Oriental treasure destined for European buyers but invariably landing up legally (and illegally) on the shores of the Cape Colony and into the homes of the wealthy merchants and colonial governors and administrators of the time.​

IMAGE CREDITS

• Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  
• David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons