Archival Platform May 2011 newsletter

Editor’s note

A photograph of Bashar Al-Assad President of the Syrian Arab Republic adorns a vendors cart near the ruins of the ancient city of Apamea. Photograph credit: Jo-Anne Duggan

The photograph of the dying moments of Andries Tatane, viciously assaulted by police during a service delivery protest, will surely go down as one of the iconic images of the year. At a time when our country goes to the polls this image sits uncomfortably alongside the posters that line our streets. The beaming faces and the promises they offer for a brighter future ring hollow in the face of the service delivery protests and the violence enacted by the state upon those who hold government to account - like Andries Tatane and the people of Symphony Way.

In my editorial, Use the archive to deepen democracy, I ask whether voters will be swayed by the stirring messages on the poster or wether they will they review the record, recall what was promised last time around, soberly weigh up the options and make a considered decision? I wonder. We can’t make informed decisions about who to vote for unless we have all the facts at hand. In the absence of records, and a culture of consulting the record, our decision is made blindly.

This is why we need to fight to ensure that the records of government are efficiently preserved and held safe, and that they are open, accessible to all and transparent. We can’t exert our citizenship, monitor service delivery or assess whether public funds have been spent wisely if we don’t have access to the records of government. We certainly can’t call our elected representatives to account if information about their doings is wilfully withheld from us.We draw on the archive to assist us to make our individual choices and to inform public deliberation. This is why we must ensure that the reach of the archive is broad and deep. If we are to be free to make our choices wisely, we need to guard against valorisation as diligently as we guard against neglect, and we need to attend to the documentation of the present as conscientiously as we preserve the past.

We may not always learn from the record; indeed, looking at the photographs of Hector Pieterson and Andries Tatane, and comparing the circumstances of their deaths, it seems that we are caught up in an unending cycle of civil protest and state violence. But that does not mean that we should turn our backs on the archive. It is not the archive that has failed us, but we who have fallen short by disregarding it: relaxing our vigilance; abdicating our responsibility to act as citizens or failing to grasp the prospect of deepening democracy.

We congratulate photographer Masana ‘Sam’ Nzima on being awarded the Order of Ikhamanga for his contribution to photojournalism. Nzima’s photograph showing the young Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying a slumped and bleeding Hector Pieterson away from the rioting crowd at the student protest – the Soweto Uprising – on 16 June 1976  stands as a symbol of the era. The extraordinary photograph of Andries Tatane , will surely emerge from the archive as another iconic image, and a record of the consequence of active citizenship when government fails to deliver. We’ve been fascinated by a series of developments around images of other leaders – Verwoerd, Osama Bin Laden, Bashar Al Assad, and the use to which these may be put.

A furore erupted over a statue of Hendrik Verwoerd that’s been sitting unnoticed outside the municipal buildings in Meyerton. This statue was quickly removed and returned to its owners after it hit the headlines. But the issue of what to do about the traces of our troublesome past cannot be dismissed as summarily. Should these relics remain untouched as reminders of our history? Should they be juxtaposed with new monuments to set up opportunities for engagement? Or, should they be consigned to museums or storerooms? While many monuments remained in place under the watch of presidents Mandela and Mbeki, driving home a national agenda of reconciliation, it seems the tide is turning and there are worrying signs that history is being erased.

This incident is symptomatic of the deeper problems that beset us a nation. As Verne Harris asked in the conclusion to the Alan Paton Memorial Lecture that he delivered earlier this month, “How do we enable the decolonisation of our memory institutions? How do we tend the place of bruise, of wound, of damage? How do we create conditions for healing, without prescription, without blueprint? How do we rescue the post-apartheid reconciliation project? How do we befriend the mistakes of our pasts? How do we grow up as a nation?” Mak (from Makhado) addresses the issue from another angle. He’s worried that museums have become the dustbins of history, the place to which we relegate the “uncomfortable” fragments of the past. “Shouldn’t we,” he asks, “in the month we celebrateInternational Museum Day, pay attention to the positive role these institutions can play in the life of our nation?”

Travelling through Syria in 2009 I was intrigued by the images of the Assad family that dominate the landscape. I was particularly taken by those images of the family that mark the country’s great heritage sites: Palymra, Ugarit and Mari,  linking the Assads to the great kingdoms of the past. In recent weeks I have been following media reports that show people destroying images of Assad., setting fire to posters, and in one instance attaching a shoe to a poster, the ultimate insult!

We’ve been fascinated too by the reactions to the debate around the release of the photographs of the body of Osama Bin Laden. On one hand, there has been a strident call for these to be released as “proof” that he is dead. On the other, there are fears that the image might be inflammatory. US President Obama says he doesn’t want the photographs “floating around” because they could be used to incite violence.

We’re constantly inspired by people who work creatively with the archive. A spate of dramatic productions caught our attention this month. REwind: a cantata for voice, tape and testimony, based on testimonies to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC); ‘Dayimane!’ choreographed by Musa Hlashwayo, which highlights some of the issues that have been left unexplored within the formation of the Zulu Kingdomy; and ‘Winnie the opera’ which tells the emotive life story of Winnie Madikizela Mandela. Lovell Friedman's Community House mosaic tribute to Jeanette Curtis;  the residents of Symphony Way  whose powerful text records violence domestic and public, bigotry and xenophobia and beauty amidst the horror of their community; and the young people of Sederville, Clanwilliam who have created a play that tells the stories of places in their immediate environment.

Access to information about the services delivered by local government is very much in the agenda and we draw your attention to two organisations monitoring delivery, Municipal IQ and Abahlali baseMjondolo. W e applaud the actions of our colleagues in the media who have tackled the issue of the “confidential” ministerial handbook, we congratulate the South African Cities Network on the publication of their comprehensive report, “Resilient Cities” and we wish the South African History Archive strength as they continue to do battle with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for access to the records of the TRC.

As we celebrate Africa Day on 28 May Xolelwa Kashe Katiya reminds us of the events and ideals that inspired the declaration of Africa Freedom Day in 1958, and asks whether Africa can really claim to be free. Our Ancestral Stories posts feature manuscript collections in Mali, Nigeria and Kenya. Alpha Seydou Landouré, in “Bibliothèque des manuscrits Alpha Seydou Landouré ”, tells us how he founded the library that houses his family’s manuscripts, some dating back to the 15th century. From Lagos State University in Nigeria, in “Folklorising Religious Poetry among the Yoruba” , Professor Amidu Olalekan Sanni discusses the popularisation of religious poetry in oral form from some 1000 years ago and the new forms this is taking today. Aydaroos Muhsin Badawy’s “Riyadha Mosque Manuscripts: A Profile” gives us a glimpse into the largest collection of Arabic manuscripts in the Swahili world held by the Riyadha Mosque in Lamu, Kenya. Frederick Nsibambi, a heritage consultant in Uganda explains why demolishing the Uganda National Museum will set a bad precedent for heritage conservation, promotion and development efforts in Uganda. Jesmael Mataga in his post which makes reference to Zimbabwe's Heroes' Acre and the recent exhumations of bodies from a mine in Northern Zimbabwe asks, "Who speaks for the dead? The grave, the shrine, the cemetery, the stage?" and reflects on the subject of death and the dead and the way in which these become social, cultural capital harnessed by and for the profit of the living. 

Archives matter! We have important work to do.

Jo-Anne Duggan

 

In the headlines

May 18 is International Museum Day! 
Museums, archives and libraries join together to celebrate this day.

Alan Paton Lecture 2011 
“Madiba, Memory and the Work of Justice” by Verne Harris, head of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Memory Programme, speaks of the “difficult” memory work still to be done.

Andries Tatane: an image that reverberated around the world 
This image will endure as a record of the consequence of active citizenship when government fails to deliver.

Toppling Verwoerd: statue removed in Midvaal
What do we do with the trouble some fragments of the past? 

Sam Nzima awarded the Order of Ikhamanga 
Nzima, best known for his iconic photograph of Hector Pieterson, received the award for his contribution to photojournalism.

Bin Laden photographs: an inflammatory archive? 
Will the ohotograph offer “proof” of Bin Laden’s death or incite violence?

Syria: protesters destroy images of Assad
Images of the Assad family that dot the Syrian landscape, linking the ruling family to the country’s ages-old heritage, have been destroyed by protestors. Images of the Assad family that dot the Syrian landscape, linking the ruling family to the country’s ages-old heritage, have been destroyed by protestors.

“Mysterious” Mandela photographs: can you help?
The Nelson Mandela Foundation is asking the public to assist in identifying people and events depicted in photographs from their archive.

REWIND: a cantata for voice, tape and testimony 
An inspiring and awesome production based on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

‘Winnie the opera’
The dramatic  life story of Winnie Madikizela Mandela, told through classical music, traditional choral music, church hymns and Xhosa instruments.

Community House artworks take shape
Lovell Friedman’s mosaic in the foyer of Community House draws on documentary records to pay tribute to and celebrate the life of Jeanette Curtis.

Access to information: the quest for the ministerial handbook
Should information about ministers’ expenditure of tax payers’ money be confidential?

State of the Cities Report
‘Towards Resilient Cities’ is a reflection on local government in South Africa 2001-2010.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Archive: 15 years on
The South African History Archive (SAHA) continues its struggle to access TRC archives from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

The Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) has a new director general
Sibusiso Samuel Xaba has been appointed as the director general of the DAC.

Department of Arts and Culture (DAC): 2011 briefing
The DAC and its agencies briefed the parliamentary committee on the 2011 budget and strategic plans.

Sederville youth celebrate their heritage
The young people of this village have created a play that tells the stories of places in their immediate environment.

Opportunities

Jobs:

The Museum for African Art, New York City, USA

The Museum for African Art is accepting applications for a curator of Traditional African Art

Training:

Summer School in the Study of Historical Manuscripts
Zadar, Croatia, 26 - 30 September 2011

Masters in Responsible Tourism Management
Gambia and UK

Fellowships:

Faculty of Performance, Visual Arts and Communications, School of Fine Art, University of Leeds, UK
Applications are invited for a Research Fellow in Tangible/Intangible Heritage

Festivals:

2011 All Africa Music and Dance Festivals on Peace
Nairobi, Kenya, 27 - 28 August, 2011 and Calabar, Nigeria, December, 2011

Event:

Launch of the Locations and Locutions Lecture Series
Stellenbosch, South Africa, 07 June 2011

Conferences and resources

Conferences:

Sport in Africa: History, Politics and the Archive
London, UK, 29 June 2011

Changing Tastes: Local Gastronomy and Regional Museums
Kristiansand and Vest-Agdar County, Norway, 22 - 28 August 2011

Historical Justice and Memory: an interdisciplinary conference
Melbourne, Australia, 14-17 February 2012

Measuring and Promoting Museum Success
Brno, Czech Republic, 17 - 20 September 2011

Climate Change and Indigenous Knowledge System (CCIKS 2011): International Student Conference
Johannesburg, South Africa, 15 -17 August 2011

Permanent Persuaders Conference
East London, South Africa, 9-11 August 2011

ANALYTRICS: Paris International Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences Research
Paris, France, 24 - 28 July 2012

The Museum Professional Network: Annual Conference
Toronto, Canada, 24-27 October, 2011

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) 13th General Assembly
Rabat, Morocco, 5 - 9 December 2011 

Resources:

Podcast: Episode 52 of Africa Past and Present. The podcast about African history, culture, and politics is now available

Book: The Memory of State Terrorism in the Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay
The book illuminates the politics of memory that have been unfolding in these countries.

Book: Collective Memory and the Social Construction of Reality. A Theory of Memory Cultures (Studies in Cultural and Social Sciences vol. 2). This book is out now in German.

Opinions

Archival Platform:

Use the archive to deepen democracy!
At a time when South Africa is focused on local government elections, Jo-Anne Duggan reminds us that the archive has a vital role to play in deepening democracy.

Not yet Uhuru!
Xolelwa Kashe Katiya reminds us of the events and ideals that inspired the declaration of Africa Freedom Day in 1958, and asks whether Africa can really claim to be free.

Ancestral stories:

EnteAlpha Seydou Landouré‘s manuscript library
Alpha Seydou Landouré, tells us how he founded the library that houses his family’s manuscripts, some dating back to the 15th century

Folklorizing Religious Poetry among the Yoruba (Nigeria)
Amidu Olalekan Sanni discusses the popularisation of religious poetry in oral form from some 1000 years ago and the new forms this is taking today.

Riyadha Mosque Manuscripts: A Profile
Aydaroos Muhsin Badawy’s “” gives us a glimpse into the largest collection of Arabic manuscripts in the Swahili world held by the Riyadha Mosque in Lamu, Kenya.

Guest posts:

The Uganda National Museum: a national treasure
Frederick Nsibambi tells us why demolishing the Uganda National Museum will set a bad precedent for heritage conservation, promotion and development efforts in Uganda.

Museums: dumping grounds for “troublesome” histories?
Mak (from Makhado) wonders why so many people seem to be suggesting that difficult fragments from the past - like songs and statues - be consigned to museums.

Who speaks for the dead? The grave, the shrine, the cemetery, the stage?
Jesmael Mataga reflecting on Heores' Acre and the recent exhumation of bodies from a Zimbawean mine, comments on the way in which death and dying are harnessed for the profit of the living.

 

 

 

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