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Running a Museum

The challenges of running a major museum - we speak to the women in charge of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the Nelson Mandela House in Johannesburg.

Two women who run museums that document the lives and legacies of iconic figures of twentieth century history: Anne Frank and Nelson Mandela.

Garance Reus-Deelder is Managing Director of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, which welcomes 1.3 million visitors every year and faces numerous challenges due to the cramped nature of the space. Garance herself was born in the Netherlands but grew up in Zambia, where she remembers visiting memorials rather than museums. She first went into business before joining the museum in 2012. She describes the power of objects to tell stories, and how to handle the legacy of a young girl.

Wayde Davy is Director of Mandela House in Soweto, and Deputy Director of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. She herself had little exposure to museums as a child under apartheid - but she later became fascinated with how they work, and believes that museums have the power to educate people about the past and provide a forum for everyone to air their views in what is still a divided society.

Image: (l) Garance Reus-Deelder and (r) Wayde Davy
Credit: (l) Anne Frank House/Cris Toala Olivares and (r) n/a

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Sun 27 Aug 2017 18:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Mon 21 Aug 2017 02:32GMT
  • Mon 21 Aug 2017 03:32GMT
  • Mon 21 Aug 2017 04:32GMT
  • Mon 21 Aug 2017 06:32GMT
  • Mon 21 Aug 2017 10:32GMT
  • Mon 21 Aug 2017 21:32GMT
  • Sun 27 Aug 2017 18:32GMT

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