Day 5 of my visit to Johannesburg took me firstly to Sophiatown. Sophiatown and the western area neighbourhoods were historically famous particularly for their racially-mixed communities which were a hive of artistic, political, business and intellectual and cultural innovations from the early 1930s until apartheid legislation destroyed them beginning in 1955. Sophiatown was a celebrated freehold and the first area in South Africa to feel the force of apartheid’s Native Resettlement Act and Group Areas segregation.
By 1962, Sophiatown had been flattened and rebuilt as a whites-only area called Triomf, yet Sophiatown today is probably one of the most diverse suburbs in Johannesbug, with long time residents from the 1960s, returned residents from the 1950s, and new families and students who know little of the area's rich past.
Father Trevor Huddleston was sent to Sophiatown in 1943 to continue the education and pastoral work of his religious community, Community of the Resurrection, based in the UK. He was 30 years old and found a vibrant community which instantly took him to its heart. By the time he was 42 years old, he had written a book about apartheid called 'Naught for Your Comfort'. It was banned in South Africa but sold 250,000 copies all over the world, so many people came to hear about apartheid. When Fr Huddleston returned to the UK in 1956 he committed to the struggle in new ways, and was one of the founding members of the 'Boycott Movement' - the pre-cursor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the UK.
The Trevor Huddleston CR Memorial Building, was officially opened in September 2015, by elders and youth with links to Fr Huddleston, in the presence of families who had lived in Sophiatown before the forced removals, and residents who live there today. Here work continues to enable young South African’s to develop their full potential, following in the footsteps of hundreds of youngsters who were schooled and supported by Fr Trevor and his colleagues and brothers working across Soweto and the historic western area neighbourhoods close to historic Sophiatown.
Their vision is a Sophiatown and surrounding communities where all people truly belong: where there is healing, opportunity and prosperity; so that resources are used to create a society where none live in poverty. Their values are inspired by the life-long service of Fr Huddleston to the recognition of every person’s intrinsic and equal value: they aim to operate with integrity, a focus on service, while valuing innovation and respecting diversity. Their venues, known as Sophiatown the Mix - are a state of the art ‘green’ building and an original 1930s Sophiatown home that has a rich history and can be viewed as a museum.
Christ the King, Sophiatown was an icon of the liberation struggle in South Africa. In this way, under the spiritual guidance of the Community of the Resurrection (CR) fathers it kept the proclamation, practice, and spirit akin of the historical institution of the feast day of its dedication – No heavenly and earthly power is above that of Christ, and those made in God’s image may not be subordinated. In 1940 Trevor Huddleston CR was appointed Rector. His ashes reside at a memorial site at the back of the church. It is often used for memorial services and is an attractive tourist destination. On the north-eastern side of the church there is a mural depicting Huddleston walking the dusty streets of Sophiatown. This mural was painted by 12 apprentice students under patronage of the Gerard Sekoto Foundation. It shows two children tugging at his cassock as well as Sekoto’s famous yellow houses.
Inside the church, a mosaic depicting Christ with multiracial disciples in contemporary dress has been unveiled. Designed by artist Bon Chandiyamba, the work was produced after an act of philanthropy by a British businessman. Stephen Hargrave, a regular visitor to Johannesburg, commissioned it when he learned how a previous mural at the church was destroyed. The original mural had been painted between 1938 and 1941 by an Anglican nun, Sister Margaret. Only blurred photographs remain of her vision of a white Jesus and his white disciples. It was whitewashed over and lost after the church was sold to the government in 1967 and used as a boxing gym. The church also has Stations of the Cross painted by O. J. Zwane in 2006.
Father Trevor Huddleston was sent to Sophiatown in 1943 to continue the education and pastoral work of his religious community, Community of the Resurrection, based in the UK. He was 30 years old and found a vibrant community which instantly took him to its heart. By the time he was 42 years old, he had written a book about apartheid called 'Naught for Your Comfort'. It was banned in South Africa but sold 250,000 copies all over the world, so many people came to hear about apartheid. When Fr Huddleston returned to the UK in 1956 he committed to the struggle in new ways, and was one of the founding members of the 'Boycott Movement' - the pre-cursor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the UK.
The Trevor Huddleston CR Memorial Building, was officially opened in September 2015, by elders and youth with links to Fr Huddleston, in the presence of families who had lived in Sophiatown before the forced removals, and residents who live there today. Here work continues to enable young South African’s to develop their full potential, following in the footsteps of hundreds of youngsters who were schooled and supported by Fr Trevor and his colleagues and brothers working across Soweto and the historic western area neighbourhoods close to historic Sophiatown.
Their vision is a Sophiatown and surrounding communities where all people truly belong: where there is healing, opportunity and prosperity; so that resources are used to create a society where none live in poverty. Their values are inspired by the life-long service of Fr Huddleston to the recognition of every person’s intrinsic and equal value: they aim to operate with integrity, a focus on service, while valuing innovation and respecting diversity. Their venues, known as Sophiatown the Mix - are a state of the art ‘green’ building and an original 1930s Sophiatown home that has a rich history and can be viewed as a museum.
Christ the King, Sophiatown was an icon of the liberation struggle in South Africa. In this way, under the spiritual guidance of the Community of the Resurrection (CR) fathers it kept the proclamation, practice, and spirit akin of the historical institution of the feast day of its dedication – No heavenly and earthly power is above that of Christ, and those made in God’s image may not be subordinated. In 1940 Trevor Huddleston CR was appointed Rector. His ashes reside at a memorial site at the back of the church. It is often used for memorial services and is an attractive tourist destination. On the north-eastern side of the church there is a mural depicting Huddleston walking the dusty streets of Sophiatown. This mural was painted by 12 apprentice students under patronage of the Gerard Sekoto Foundation. It shows two children tugging at his cassock as well as Sekoto’s famous yellow houses.
Inside the church, a mosaic depicting Christ with multiracial disciples in contemporary dress has been unveiled. Designed by artist Bon Chandiyamba, the work was produced after an act of philanthropy by a British businessman. Stephen Hargrave, a regular visitor to Johannesburg, commissioned it when he learned how a previous mural at the church was destroyed. The original mural had been painted between 1938 and 1941 by an Anglican nun, Sister Margaret. Only blurred photographs remain of her vision of a white Jesus and his white disciples. It was whitewashed over and lost after the church was sold to the government in 1967 and used as a boxing gym. The church also has Stations of the Cross painted by O. J. Zwane in 2006.
From Sophiatown I went to the Apartheid Museum, which opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as the pre-eminent museum in the world dealing with 20th century South Africa, at the heart of which is the apartheid story. An architectural consortium, comprising several leading architectural firms, conceptualised the design of the building on a seven-hectare stand. The museum is a superb example of design, space and landscape offering the international community a unique South African experience.
The exhibits have been assembled and organised by a multi-disciplinary team of curators, film-makers, historians and designers. They include provocative film footage, photographs, text panels and artefacts illustrating the events and human stories that are part of the epic saga, known as apartheid. A series of 22 individual exhibition areas takes the visitor through a dramatic emotional journey that tells a story of a state-sanctioned system based on racial discrimination and the struggle of the majority to overthrow this tyranny.
For anyone wanting to understand and experience what apartheid South Africa was really like, a visit to the Apartheid Museum is fundamental. The museum is a beacon of hope showing the world how South Africa is coming to terms with its oppressive past and working towards a future that all South Africans can call their own.
The exhibits have been assembled and organised by a multi-disciplinary team of curators, film-makers, historians and designers. They include provocative film footage, photographs, text panels and artefacts illustrating the events and human stories that are part of the epic saga, known as apartheid. A series of 22 individual exhibition areas takes the visitor through a dramatic emotional journey that tells a story of a state-sanctioned system based on racial discrimination and the struggle of the majority to overthrow this tyranny.
For anyone wanting to understand and experience what apartheid South Africa was really like, a visit to the Apartheid Museum is fundamental. The museum is a beacon of hope showing the world how South Africa is coming to terms with its oppressive past and working towards a future that all South Africans can call their own.
Similarly with Constitution Hill, which I visited on Day 6 of my trip. Constitution Hill is a living museum that tells the story of South Africa’s journey to democracy. The site is a former prison and military fort that bears testament to South Africa’s turbulent past and, today, is home to the country’s Constitutional Court, which endorses the rights of all citizens.
There is perhaps no other site of incarceration in South Africa that imprisoned the sheer number of world-renowned men and women as those held within the walls of the Old Fort, the Women's Jail and Number Four. Nelson Mandela. Mahatma Gandhi. Joe Slovo. Albertina Sisulu. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Fatima Meer. They all served time here. But the precinct also confined tens of thousands of ordinary people during its 100-year history: men and women of all races, creeds, ages and political agendas; the indigenous and the immigrant; the everyman and the elite. In this way, the history of every South African lives here.
There is perhaps no other site of incarceration in South Africa that imprisoned the sheer number of world-renowned men and women as those held within the walls of the Old Fort, the Women's Jail and Number Four. Nelson Mandela. Mahatma Gandhi. Joe Slovo. Albertina Sisulu. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Fatima Meer. They all served time here. But the precinct also confined tens of thousands of ordinary people during its 100-year history: men and women of all races, creeds, ages and political agendas; the indigenous and the immigrant; the everyman and the elite. In this way, the history of every South African lives here.
Constitution Hill is also a place of contrasts: of injustice and justice, of oppression and liberation. The precinct is testament to the importance of preserving sites of atrocity for posterity, and also to recreating them so that they can serve the purposes of the present and serve to mould the future.
The curation of this collection was driven by Justices Albie Sachs and Yvonne Mokgoro, who began by commissioning Joseph Ndlovu to create a tapestry titled 'Humanity' that would reflect humanity and social interdependence in the new democratic South Africa’s Bill of Rights. Prominent South African artist Cecil Skotnes donated a panel depicting his interpretation of democracy, a work called Freedom. Willie Bester’s Discussion, William Kentridge’s Sleeper – Black, Robert Hodgins’ Hotel with Landscape and Marlene Dumas’s The Benefit of the Doubt soon followed. A special ceremony was held for the installation of The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent by Judith Mason, a work that is based on proceedings at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and one that is now perhaps the court’s most famous piece.
Today, art not only adorns the walls of the Constitutional Court at Constitution Hill. It is in the foyer’s chandeliers and light fittings, designed by sculptor Walter Oltmann. It is in the court’s rugs, carpets and acoustic panels, designed by Andrew Verster. It is in the engraved doors, carved gates and mosaicked columns, and in the abundant use of texture and symbolism.
The drama students drew on testimonies, articles, documentaries, news bulletins, and the commission statements that cross-examined the government officials responsible for this unspeakable tragedy, to devise a powerful physical interpretation of this event and its aftermath. Their re-telling of these events focused on Maria Phehla whose daughter, Deborah, was the first to die just three days after her transfer. The play was a protest at the events which caused the tragedy and the political situation in South Africa that allowed it to occur, but ended with Maria Phehla reminding the Court that all those who died were made in the image of God. These young people were drawing on faith to explore meaning in chaos, scandal and protest. By doing so, whether consciously or not, they were sharing something of the kingdom of God and providing a means by which South Africans could engage with the scandal of Life Esidemeni in order, at least, to ensure those events were not repeated. In this way, the play provided healing space.
Young people played a vital role in the struggle against apartheid. The events of the 1976 Soweto uprising saw township youth take control of the struggle and those events marked the beginning of the end of apartheid. Young people continue to advocate for change in South Africa and St Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg wish to support their development as current activists and future leaders within South Africa. As part of a wider leadership development initiative for young people at the Cathedral, a group of nine young people and two adults will visit St Martin’s from 6 – 17 April 2020 to gain a broader set of leadership and cultural experiences. My visit involved time spent with the young people of the Cathedral exploring understandings and examples of leadership and the beginning of preparations for their youth pilgrimage in 2020.
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