| Iziko Museums has embarked on a major
project which will transform the Slave Lodge into a permanent museum
of slavery, using the building itself as a significant artefact. The
focus of the exhibits will be on family roots, ancestry and the
peopling of South Africa. We aim to increase awareness on issues such
as human rights, equality, peace and justice. We plan to transform the
Lodge from a site of human wrongs to a one of human rights, to pay
tribute to those who have been forgotten, denied and stigmatised. The
initial temporary exhibits on show will be replaced in a phased
programme over the next few years.
An orientation centre on slavery at the Cape is already completed.
An audio guide to take the visitor on a tour of the history of the
site itself is available.
New exhibition galleries opened in June 2006 which show that the
Cape was an integral part of the Indian Ocean slave trade route –
slaves were brought to the Cape from four main areas, viz. Indonesia,
India-Ceylon, Madagascar and Mozambique. This in contrast to the route
of the transatlantic slave trade that was used by European slave
traders to transport African slaves to the plantations of the Americas
and Caribbean. An installation evokes the cramped conditions of slaves
aboard a slave ship, such as the
Meermin. This was
one of several ships sent by the Cape VOC authorities in the 18th
century to Madagascar, to trade with local rulers and obtain slave
men, women and children for the Slave Lodge in Cape Town. An alcove
features an interactive column of light, which commemorates slaves
through their names. Turning the rings in the column, each inscribed
with names of slave inmates of the Slave Lodge, becomes a means of
triggering memory, even a metaphorical release. The rings in turn are
associated with tree rings, the passing of time, and the story handed
down over generations that slaves brought to the Cape were auctioned,
as commodities, under trees. Finally, a room uses sound, projected
images and animation to take visitors into the dark and oppressive
conditions of slaves’ lives in the Slave Lodge.
In addition to the Slave Lodge a number of Iziko
Social History sites
are linked with the history of slavery. Different strands in the
narrative of slavery at the Cape will be told at these sites (see
Groot Constantia Orientation Centre
for information on slavery).
Enquiries: Lalou Meltzer, tel. 021 464 1263 or e-mail
meltzer@iziko.org.za
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