Museums as Political Tools: From Apartheid South Africa to Trump's America

During apartheid in South Africa, museums served as instruments of propaganda, promoting racial hierarchies through their exhibits. The Voortrekker Monument, which opened in 1949, honored white settlers, while the South African Museum, founded in 1825, portrayed Black culture as unchanging. These establishments were overseen by the Department of National Education and Afrikaner groups. The South African Cultural History Museum, launched in 1964, further divided European and African cultural representations. In the 1980s, artists associated with the Black Consciousness Movement began to resist this narrative. After apartheid, some museums, including those in the Iziko group, began to feature exhibitions on slavery, yet systemic inequalities persisted. In March 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the Smithsonian, claiming it aimed to restore objectivity, reminiscent of previous authoritarian cultural interventions. William Shoki stresses the necessity for fundamental reform in cultural institutions.