Building Alternative Institutions: In Conversation with Ngaire Blankenberg

In this episode, Ngaire Blankenberg, founder of A42 Museum for Creative Repair, speaks with Valerie and Jonathan about building alternative cultural institutions and rethinking how heritage, art and communities can be sustained in Africa. Ngaire discusses A42’s experimental model of micro heritage resorts, designed to make museums more financially sustainable while bringing heritage into conversation. This discussion explores audience development, democratisation, the role of money and patronage, and why cultural institutions need to move beyond large scale, capital intensive projects towards models that are grounded in their communities.