This paper examines how and to what extent the District Six Museum
has contributed the current redevelopment of the District Six site.
Since its inception, the Museum has challenged accepted definitions
of heritage and has transcended common museological practices
through its initiative as an institution to go beyond nurturing the
memory of one of the most iconic sites of forced removal in South
Africa, but to also contribute to the site’s redevelopment. The
Museum grew out of an organisation that was dedicated to protecting
the empty wasteland that the District had become since it was
announced a ‘white area’ by the apartheid government and bulldozed.
The same group of people became passionate not only about
protecting the site, and conducting “memory work” surrounding it
but eventually contributing to a process of restitution and rebuilding
the homes and lives of those whose houses where destroyed and
communities were fragmented. This paper considers such an
initiative, which began in a pre-democratic environment where the
concept of heritage was ill-defined and cultural institutions often
served apartheid agendas. This consideration will involve an
examination of the way in which the District Six Museum developed;
the Museum’s role and how this role has evolved and the District Six
that has been re-imagined through the Museum and how this “idea”
is contributing to re-development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4927 |
| Date | 05 June 2008 |
| Creators | Koseff, Lara Simone |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 26471798 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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