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Download invitation to public lecture
[PDF]
Download Freedom Project Film Programme
[PDF]
Iziko Museums has been engaged in
a partnership with the Museum of London, the Museum in Docklands
London, the Barbados Museum and Historical Society Bridgetown,
and the British Council around the bicentenary of the abolition
of the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807. The
partnership, loosely titled the
‘Freedom
Project 2007-2008’, hopes to explore the impact of
the abolition on the Indian Ocean oceanic slave trade and
particularly on slavery at the Cape.
As one of the key events to launch the ‘Freedom Project
2007-2008’, Iziko Museums hosts a free public lecture at the
Iziko Slave Lodge Museum on
26 April (at 18h00). The lecture - entitled
‘Commemorating 1807 – or should that be 1808?’ - will be
presented by Professor Nigel Worden, well-known historian and
author from the University of Cape Town.
This lecture poses some critical questions (such as ‘should we
perhaps rather be commemorating the bicentenary of the 1808
slave rebellion at the Cape?’) and will hopefully spark
interesting debates and broaden the public discourse on slavery.
A chilling reality is that, despite the abolition of the slave
trade and the demise of apartheid, there are still vestiges of
slavery such as human trafficking, exploitation of farm workers,
child labour and sexual exploitation of women and children in
our society.
To heighten public awareness of the bicentenary, Iziko will also
screen a number of international and local
short films with human rights and slavery themes, at
the TH Barry lecture theatre,
Iziko SA
Museum, every day at 13h00, in the week
leading up to the lecture. Attendance is free to all visitors.
The Freedom Project programme is aimed at creating a space for
everyone to remember that there was once a time in the history
of the African continent and the world, when the indigenous
people of Africa and parts of Asia were bought and sold in the
name of economic progress and ‘civilisation’, and to reflect on
the ease with which these evils are finding modern forms
throughout the globe.
The fact that this event is being hosted at the Slave Lodge
Museum, where thousands of slaves lived and died, is of great
significance, and we encourage the public to visit this site to
deepen their understanding of the legacy of slavery in South
Africa.
For information about the Freedom Project, email Vivienne
Carelse at
publicprogs@iziko.org.za or
Tel. 021 481 3814.
To RSVP the lecture, or for press accreditation, email Wandile
Kasibe at
wkasibe@iziko.org.za or
Tel. 021 481 3804.
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