Cape Town's Iziko Planetarium among Africa's elite following R30m digital upgrade
POSTED 09 Jun 2017 . BY Tom Anstey
The new digital fulldome 8K theatre is a first for the African continent
Cape Town’s Iziko Planetarium has reopened its doors to the public following a R30m (US$2.3m, €2.1m, £1.8m) digital upgrade.
The Iziko Planetarium, part of the Iziko South African Museum, has had a much-needed upgrade to the 31-year-old facility, with its new digital fulldome 8K theatre allowing for multimedia image production and data visualisation “on a scale not previously seen in Africa”.
“This space is no longer a planetarium as you know it,” said Iziko CEO Rooksana Omar. “It is in fact a digital dome.
“As part of the upgraded Iziko South African Museum, the new Iziko Planetarium and Digital Dome will feature as one of the African continent’s foremost centres of excellence for indigenous knowledge generation. This type of partnership, between museums, academia and government illustrates the value and impact of collaboration in creating synergies between generating knowledge and providing platforms of expression and innovation.”
South Africa’s Iziko Museums are an agency of the government’s Department of Arts and Culture, which has funded the project along with the University of the Western Cape, the National Research Foundation, the National Lotteries Commission, the University of Cape Town and Cape Peninsula University.
The planetarium is one of only six fully-fledged planetariums on the African continent, which in addition to acting as a visitor attraction, will also serve as a research facility and will be used to bridge the divide between the sciences and the arts.
A Polar Ocean World for Shanghai along with a ski park and planetarium have been
identified as part of a larger masterplan to redevelop the city’s Pudong area, drawing up to
10 million visitors annually.
South Africa’s Iziko Museums – an agency of the government’s Department of Arts and
Culture – is enhancing its planetarium in Cape Town with a R27m (US$2.2m, €2m,
(£1.7m) digital upgrade.
Numbers from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, (ALVA) show that Royal attractions
saw a huge increase in visitor numbers during 2023 – the coronation year of King Charles III.
Off the back of the success of the first round of Everyday Heritage Grants in 2022, Historic
England is funding 56 creative projects that honour the heritage of working-class England.
Cape Town's Iziko Planetarium among Africa's elite following R30m digital upgrade
POSTED 09 Jun 2017 . BY Tom Anstey
The new digital fulldome 8K theatre is a first for the African continent
Cape Town’s Iziko Planetarium has reopened its doors to the public following a R30m (US$2.3m, €2.1m, £1.8m) digital upgrade.
The Iziko Planetarium, part of the Iziko South African Museum, has had a much-needed upgrade to the 31-year-old facility, with its new digital fulldome 8K theatre allowing for multimedia image production and data visualisation “on a scale not previously seen in Africa”.
“This space is no longer a planetarium as you know it,” said Iziko CEO Rooksana Omar. “It is in fact a digital dome.
“As part of the upgraded Iziko South African Museum, the new Iziko Planetarium and Digital Dome will feature as one of the African continent’s foremost centres of excellence for indigenous knowledge generation. This type of partnership, between museums, academia and government illustrates the value and impact of collaboration in creating synergies between generating knowledge and providing platforms of expression and innovation.”
South Africa’s Iziko Museums are an agency of the government’s Department of Arts and Culture, which has funded the project along with the University of the Western Cape, the National Research Foundation, the National Lotteries Commission, the University of Cape Town and Cape Peninsula University.
The planetarium is one of only six fully-fledged planetariums on the African continent, which in addition to acting as a visitor attraction, will also serve as a research facility and will be used to bridge the divide between the sciences and the arts.
A Polar Ocean World for Shanghai along with a ski park and planetarium have been
identified as part of a larger masterplan to redevelop the city’s Pudong area, drawing up to
10 million visitors annually.
South Africa’s Iziko Museums – an agency of the government’s Department of Arts and
Culture – is enhancing its planetarium in Cape Town with a R27m (US$2.2m, €2m,
(£1.7m) digital upgrade.
Numbers from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, (ALVA) show that Royal attractions
saw a huge increase in visitor numbers during 2023 – the coronation year of King Charles III.
Off the back of the success of the first round of Everyday Heritage Grants in 2022, Historic
England is funding 56 creative projects that honour the heritage of working-class England.
Universal has revealed it will be adding new Harry Potter attractions, alongside Super Nintendo
and How to Train Your Dragon worlds to its Florida resort.