ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW, 200 years of the Iziko South African Museum, 1825-2025

368pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Sun Press, 2025

ISBN: 9780639889306

The text, Always Something New, published to mark the bicentenary of the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town, critically explores the institution's evolution from a colonial space focused on collecting and classifying the natural world into a modern, de-colonial heritage site that holds a vast collection of over 10 million objects spanning natural history, marine biology, palaeontology and social history.

The Iziko South African Museum was founded in 1825 by Lord Charles Somerset and is the oldest conventional museum in sub-Saharan Africa.

Jonathan Weinberg, co-founder of the Handspring Puppet Company, has held management and exhibition development positions at Iziko Museums of South Africa, the Smithsonian Institution, the Cape Town Science Centre and Kagiso Media, and has lectured in museum and heritage studies at UCT and for the Robben Island/ UWC Postgraduate Diploma in Heritage Studies course. He is currently Director of DIJONDESIGN, a heritage, museum and exhibition consultancy based in Cape Town.

Diane Cooper is Emeritus Professor at the University of the Western Cape and a consultant researcher and writer for DIJONDESIGN.

Naomi Roux is a consultant working as a senior researcher and writer for DIJONDESIGN, and has taught at UCT, Wits University, and the London School of Economics and Politiical Science. Her previous book, Remaking the Urban: Heritage and Transformation in Nelson Mandela Bay, was published in 2021.

Bongani Ndhlovu is a UWC CHR research associate, Executive Director: Core Functions for Museums of South Africa, and was course co-convenor for the UCT Michaelis School of Fine Art-Iziko Honours Curatorship Course. He  has 28 years of experience in the heritage sector.