THE City of Johannesburg owns and operates six museums and one gallery, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the city's oldest gallery with a world-class art collection. Here is a list of these sites, in alphabetical order, with details of some of the wonderful treasures they contain.

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The Bensusan Museum of Photography is named after Dr AD Bensusan (FRPS), a former mayor of Johannesburg and a man who has devoted himself to promoting the art and science of photography in this country. It was donated to the city in 1968.

The collection includes rare and valuable precision-made photographic equipment. As an example, we display a very early Daguerre camera bought by his English rival WH Fox Talbot in 1839, the year that the invention of photography was announced to the world. The Collector's Gallery is just the place to leave a camera collector, photographic buff or anyone with a technical bent as they follow how one by one seemingly impossible obstacles to photography's evolution were solved by ingenious engineering solutions.

The museum also collects the pictures made using this equipment, all kinds, from the earliest wet plate prints through experiments in 3D such as stereoscopic views and holograms, prints to digital images. The museum specialises in preserving the work of South African photographers.

Visitor info
Bensusan Museum is in MuseuMafricA, at 121 Bree Street, Newtown, Johannesburg.
Tel 011 833 5624
Fax 011 833 5636
E-mail: PhotographicLibrary@joburg.org.za
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays 09:00 -17:00. Closed on Good Friday, Christmas Day and 26 December.
For more information speak to the curator, Jonathan Frost.

What can I see
Photographs are everywhere; the science of imaging enriches and informs our world. It was not always so. After all, photography is only 160 years old. The Bensusan Museum of Photography takes visitors on a journey through the bumpy history of this technology, with its scientific dead-ends and astonishing breakthroughs. We are shown examples of the earliest cameras and photographic equipment and follow the evolution of imaging science on to the present day. Along the way interactive toys, darkrooms and multimedia shows teach us basic lessons in the principles of optics, light and the moving image and the fundamentals of photography. It is a fun place to learn about the history of one of South Africa's best loved and increasingly popular pastimes and artistic pursuits.

The Photo Gallery has regular exhibitions by leading South African and international photographers, and the Horace Nicholls Gallery shows experimental and student work.

Services
The extensive library has works on everything you might want to know about photography and photographers and lends books to amateurs, students and professionals. Bring your ID to register. Leading photographic magazines are always on display.

The library is open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10:00 to 14:00
Wednesday 10:00 to 16:30
Saturday 09:00 to 13:00

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The museum is named after one of the first casualties of the march through Soweto on 16 June 1976, when police were ordered to shoot at a crowd of demonstrating students. Sam Nzima's photograph of the mortally wounded Hector Pieterson carried by a horrified youth and his wailing sister came to symbolise the contribution of youth to the liberation struggle. The museum is next to the Pieterson Memorial, and the whole area has been declared a national heritage site.

Visitor info
8288 Maseko Street
Orlando West 1804
Tel/Fax 011 536 0611
Contact the curator Ali Hlongwane

What can I see
Moving along a series of ramps, visitors will look through strategically placed windows at important sites of the day’s events, including the Orlando Stadium and the police station, and view exhibits including television footage of the uprising. Participants and witnesses will be invited to record their own experiences of the day. Knowledgeable tour guides include Hector’s sister, Antoinette Sithole.

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The James Hall Museum of Transport is the largest and most comprehensive land transport museum in South Africa. The late Jimmie Hall and the City of Johannesburg established it in February 1964. The museum shows land transport in all its forms - ox-wagons, coaches and carts, bicycles, motorbikes, tractors, fire engines, buses, trams, trains, and cars from the Model T Ford to electric cars. Children are free to run around and may climb onto some of the vehicles, while veteran car enthusiasts ooh and aah.

Visitor info
Situated just 1 km south of the city center, the museum is easily accessible to visitors at Pioneers Park (next to Wemmer Pan) and opposite the Rand Stadium, Rosettenville Road, La Rochelle, Johannesburg. Take the Mooi Street exit off the M2 east, turn right at the T junction and again into Rosettenville Road.

There is secure parking at the door.
Tel 435-9485/6/7
Fax 435-9821
E-mail: curator@jhmt.org.za
Website: www.jhmt.org.za
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays 09:00 -17:00. Closed on Good Friday, Christmas Day and 26 December.
There is no admission charge, but donations are welcome.
For more information speak to the curator, Peter Hall.

What can I see
The South Hall shows the history of animal drawn vehicles. You can see a Cape Cart, a uniquely South African invention designed to cope with African conditions. A more robust vehicle is a voortrekker wagon, commonly known as a "kakebeenwa". A team of 16 oxen could pull a transport wagon with a load of 2 700kg.

The Courtyard houses a world-renowned collection of steam vehicles which includes rollers, wagons, jib cranes, a bus and a tractor, some of which are still in working condition. There is an interesting collection of trolley buses from all the major cities in South Africa as well as a London bus.

In the East Hall you will find bicycles and motorcycles, such as a velocipede or boneshaker c1869, a pennyfarthing, a tandem and tricycles. Also here is an outstanding collection of fire engines and equipment, from the early 1913 Merryweather Steam pump to a 1947 Dennis powered by an eight-cylinder Rolls Royce engine.

The North Hall shows the history of the car from a 1900 Clement Panhard up to a 1980 Opel. It includes Johannesburg's TJ1 Rolls Royce which was used for the city's mayors from 1957 - 1975.

The West Hall shows the various trams used in South Africa from 1892, when they were animal drawn, to the first electric tram of 1906 up to 1964 when the last tram ran in Johannesburg.

The North Porch houses the steam locomotives from the Anglo Boer War era as well as a large selection of agricultural equipment and an early collection of Johannesburg's municipal animal-drawn vehicles.

Services
Tours for schools or interest groups can be arranged, as well as rides on some of the museum vehicles. Booking is essential.

Friends of James Hall Museum of Transport
The Friends of the Museum are a lively group that help with fund raising events, and with maintaining the museum and its vehicles. Help preserve our heritage by supporting the Friends.

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Johannesburg Art Gallery, established in 1910, is one of the major art museums in South Africa. It has been at the forefront of the reassessment of the history of South African art through the presentation of groundbreaking exhibitions and the publication of accompanying catalogues. The gallery has extensive collections of "traditional" and contemporary South African and international art from the 16th century to the present.

Visitor info
Johannesburg Art Gallery
Klein Street, Joubert Park, Johannesburg, 2044
Tel 725-3130/80/84 Fax 720 6000
E-mail: tinym@joburg.org.za
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm

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MuseuMAfricA is Johannesburg's major history and cultural history museum, housed in the old 1913 fruit and vegetable market in the Newtown Cultural Precinct, which has been imaginatively converted into a modern museum building. A huge collection of objects, paintings and photographs has been collected since 1935 to tell the story of South Africa.

Visitor info
121 Bree Street, Newtown, Johannesburg.
Tel 833-5624 Fax 833-5636
E-mail: museumafrica@joburg.org.za
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays 09:00 - 17:00. Closed on Good Friday, Christmas Day and 26 December.
Admission: R5.00 adults, R2.00 children, students and pensioners.
There is guarded parking in Mary Fitzgerald Square opposite the entrance. Tours for schools and adult groups can be booked with the Education Department.

What can I see
The permanent displays show urban life in Johannesburg and its place in South Africa's complex history, with themes such as work as a gold miner, home in a shack and township jazz. Mahatma Gandhi's 10-year residence in the fledgling city shaped his philosophy of passive resistance. The year 1956 saw 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, imprisoned in the Johannesburg Fort on treason charges for opposing apartheid, and only acquitted after a four-year trial. Other displays deal with early man, stone and iron age communities; included are San rock art in a reconstructed shelter, and depictions of the lifestyle of the first white settlers in the Johannesburg area.

Also in MuseuMAfricA is the Bensusan Museum of Photography.

Services
Tel 833-5624 for all enquiries.

• The Public Research section & Image Resource Centre are open Tuesday to Friday 9:00 - 13:00 for museum-related enquiries.
• Venues for hire include exhibition space, the 165-seater auditorium, a boardroom and informal arena performance space.
• The souvenir shop sells books and a range of unusual items.
• The coffee shop serves reasonably priced light meals.
• The Friends of MuseuMAfricA offers extra activities to its members.

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The Bernberg Museum is a branch of MuseuMAfrica, but in a separate building. It focuses on fashion in South Africa from the 17th century, as influenced by international trends.

Visitor info
The Bernberg Museum can be found on the corner of Duncombe Road and Jan Smuts Ave, Forest Town.

The Bernberg Museum is temporarily closed.
Tel 646-0716

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The Roodepoort Museum is a local community museum which covers the development of Roodepoort from mining camp to city and the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand.

Visitor info
Civic Centre, Christiaan de Wet Road, Florida Park 1709
Tel 761 0225/9
Fax 674-4043
E-mail: annes@joburg.org.za
Web: www.museums.org.za/roodepoortmuseum
Open Tuesday to Friday 09:30 - 16:30, Sunday 14:00 - 17:00.
Closed on Public Holidays
Please book for groups of more than ten people.

What can I see
Friendly guides lead you through the first discovery of payable gold in the area, and the development of mining into villages and towns.

The museum boasts a pioneer farmhouse dating from the mid-1800s, a Victorian house from the turn of the century, plus 1920s and 1930s lounges reflecting life in a bygone era. A special display room houses the museum's collection of international decorative art objects. A temporary exhibition gallery has changing displays of local interest.

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The Adler Museum of Medicine was established in 1962 by Dr Cyril and Mrs Esther Adler who together collected a truly remarkable private collection of medical and pharmacological memorabilia. Today the collection consists of over 40 000 objects depicting the history of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy through the ages. In June 1974, the Museum was officially handed over to the University of the Witwatersrand.

Apart from the items of medical historical interest on display, there are also documents, sculptures, pictures, videos and philatelic and medallion collections relating to medical history. The Museum has a library of rare books as well as a history of medicine reference library.

There are reconstructions of an early 20th century Johannesburg pharmacy, a dental surgery, a doctor's consulting room and an optometry display of the same period. A history of Western medicine is augmented with displays of several alternative modalities where visitors can also learn about alternative treatments which include acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Tibb (Unani) and Ayurveda. Energy medicine, the newest of the alternative therapies, is also shown and explained.

An important stream of medicine in Africa, traditional healing, is showcased in the Museum with displays of an African herb shop and a patient consulting a sangoma (traditional healer).

The Adler Museum Bulletin, a fascinating publication and eminently readable, is produced twice a year.

The Museum arranges regular public lectures, tours, specialised tours for school learners, film shows, temporary exhibitions on various subjects, and provides excellent facilities for medical historical teaching and research.

The Museum is open Mondays to Fridays from 09:30 to 16:00. Closed on weekends and public holidays, 24 December to 4 January. After hours by appointment.

The Museum is generously funded by the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Visitor info
Address: 7 York Road, Parktown, 2093
Tel/fax: 011 717 2081
E-mail: curator@health.wits.ac.za
Website: www.wits.ac.za/museums/adler.html

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There are a number of other excellent museums around the city which are worth visiting: the Apartheid Museum, the Mandela Museum in Soweto, the Constitution Museum and the South African Museum of Military History, among others.
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