Trace is a team of research, exhibition and design professionals. We come from the disciplines of journalism, film and television, fine art, architecture, education and history. Over the past decade, we have built new museums, transformed historical places of significance into heritage sites as well as curated many permanent and temporary exhibitions. We have authored several feasibility studies and business plans as well as publishing several books on memory, history and public art.

Through our work both locally and in other parts of Africa, we have forged a unique inter-disciplinary methodology and we have become specialists in extracting hidden and untold stories and bringing them to life in diverse and exciting ways in spaces new and old.

Each one of our museum and heritage projects commences with an assessment of the location, its social possibilities and its aesthetic needs. Our solutions develop organically from the stories and emotions revealed through an intensive research process. We look for a material language that best expresses the spirit of a site or project, and believe in achieving maximum impact with minimum intervention. We endeavor to incorporate art into all aspects of the design and never leave it as a mere afterthought to the construction of a site.

We have experience in creating appropriate communication strategies for diverse audiences. We focus on personal histories and oral testimonies, rather than grand impersonal narratives, always looking for ways to engage our audiences critically while also affecting them emotionally. We emphasise interactivity, enabling visitors to participate and contribute to the unfolding story.

We have extensive experience in working with local communities, to ensure sustainability by building stakeholder ownership. We combine deep experience with a model for skills transfer that seeks to grow the pool of professionals in the field. We also understand the importance of operational sustainability, and of tailoring exhibition and heritage developments to the specific context of the projects we undertake.

We work with and develop 'living heritage'. And in so doing, we animate spaces that attract international tourists because they encourage local participation and ownership.