Step into Making Freedom: From a History of Slavery to a People’s History exhibition at the Iziko Slave Lodge Museum, where two newly unveiled spaces, the Hermanus ‘Ngxukumeshe’ Matroos Room and the Galant Gallery, honour stories of resistance and liberation in South Africa’s late and post-slavery periods. These spaces connect past and present, focusing on Hermanus Matroos’ cross-cultural impact and Galant van de Caab’s uprising for freedom. These stories also extend the slavery narrative into the Eastern Cape, linking enslaved peoples, Khoekhoe, and Xhosa communities through a lens of colonial conquest and resistance. Alongside this, the Galant uprising is brought to life through contemporary artworks, revealing the harsh realities of rural slavery and the enduring fight for freedom.
