history of south africa
History on Display One thing that struck me in South Africa is the increasing and widespread use of historical exhibition as means of presenting peoples history across class and racial-ethnic lines. ... Even the mainstream and well-funded Museum Africa in Johannesburg has joined the movement. ... (The possible dangers of historical work during the South African transition are illustrated by this exhibition: when Makhosi Khoza of the museums staff went out to do oral history interviews for display text, she was caught in the middle of fighting between ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party forces. ... The Mayibuye Center for History and Culture, for example, is now preparing such an exhibit for the Cape Town Castle, one of citys most important and accessible historical sites. ... Actual government documents on the removals from the South African State Archives are being juxtaposed to the videotaped and printed testimony of those removed. ... About this "Gateway Project," Mayibuyes director Andre Odendaal remarked, "We want the museum to become a gateway to the neglected history of South Africa, as well as a physical gateway to Robben Island. ... Through artifacts, visuals, sound, and (eventually) oral history audiotape loops, it recreates something of the way African migrant workers lived, worked, and struggled in downtown Johannesburg. It also has a space for revolving exhibitions on working-class history.