Making Memory Space: Recollection and Reconciliation in Post ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

with historical meaning are addressed, is relevant in understanding the role that individual buildings can play in the production of revised narratives, or the revision of entrenched narratives. It also suggests ways in which attitudes to architecture and those derived from it can contribute to the production of national narratives. The task of addressing these spaces operates as both a symbolic act and a touchstone for collective memory. Robert Bevan suggests that the act of physical transformation, choosing which sites to retain, which to demolish and which to reconstruct, can also be understood as form of selective recollection. 68 The tale of the past, as it is understood according to the physical city, can be elided, filled in, blocked off or erased according to differing attitudes to history and shifting values over what is worth remembering. This reality questions the notion that architecture exists as permanent marker, for built form is often only enduring as long as it conforms to the prevailing viewpoint. In fact, manipulation of the so-called ‘permanence’ of the city contributes to the construction and revision of authoritative narratives, for the act of eradication of physical space colludes with the notion of wilful forgetting. In effect memory space can be considered in two primary forms, the nationally sanctioned architectures of museums and memorials and the remnant sites which in themselves act as memorials through their role as witness to an event of the past. Michael Wise describes a schism between these two states of being - between the ‘concrete confrontation’ of sites where events took place and new memorials, which are created icons of the past. He posits an authentic/inauthentic dialectic between these representatives of the past, out of which revised images of national identity emerge. 69 The question of authenticity in memory practice is a contentious one. In terms of museology, concepts of authenticity are bound up in notions of the ‘original’, which is discussed later in this writing. In terms of architectural form, ideas of authenticity play a pivotal role in the establishment of local and national identity. Memory space often slides into the inauthentic realm in the contexts of entertainment and tourism, spheres that regularly encroach on the historical world. The extent to which inauthentic memory space may still effectively facilitate historical meaning is discussed in Chapter Three. Similarly the authentic/inauthentic dialectic is central to the success and failure of emergent memory space, in terms of the creation of a localised, relevant aesthetic and is discussed in depth in Chapters Four and Five. The context of built form in South Africa In order to critically analyse the spatial production in contemporary South Africa, it is useful to understand the contextual architectural form already in existence there. This explanation of some of the significant spatial developments in South Africa highlights the extent to which built form can be 68 Robert Bevan, Op cit, p.185. 69 Michael Z. Wise, Capital Dilemma: Germany’s Search for a New Architecture of Democracy (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998), p.148. 28
considered an exemplar of social attitudes and political developments. 70 Furthermore, given the argument that Apartheid cannot be considered in isolation, but is rather a product of a history of colonisation, a brief discussion of some of the major architectural components of this history is important. Attitudes to indigenous architecture The ongoing power struggle between the Dutch-derived Afrikaners who arrived at the Cape in 1952, the British who arrived shortly afterwards and the multitude of African tribes who already inhabited the land but were readily discounted as an entity with political gravitas or spatial entitlement can be traced in the earliest manifestation of built form. Built form formed the basis for much of the sense of ownership of land in South Africa. Arguments over governorship and autonomy were made on the basis of the ‘facts on the ground’ reality of built space. Architecture, as it exists in South Africa today, cannot be separated from a colonial tradition that defines colonial settlement as the starting point from which the conventional trajectory of architectural practice can be traced. 71 This in turn situates pre- existing built form as ‘vernacular’ - that is indigenous, ethnic architecture associated with tribal production and living patterns. This definition is the product of a broader colonial knowledge system based on the racial categorisation practices of Western tradition. South Africa’s vernacular architecture is often termed pre-settlement architecture. Centuries of dismissal have led to widely-held feelings of inferiority amongst black South Africans that there is little of value in this mode of spatial production, an attitude which has problematised attempts to incorporate aspects of it in contemporary building practice. 72 Consequently, the predominance of white architects perpetuates this disjunction. Despite attempts to create a more locally grounded architecture, such as evidenced in The Red Location Museum, concepts of what constitutes a more authentic and appropriate built form continue to be contested. In contemporary South Africa, sites of so-called indigenous architecture are predominantly tribal villages such as PheZulu in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, which is marketed to tourists as an ‘authentic’ African experience. 73 Cape Dutch architecture The colonising Dutch under the Dutch East India Company who settled the Cape after 1652 built ‘Cape Dutch Architecture’. This architectural form is characterised by whitewashed gables - an iconic 70 Noeleen Murray, Nick Shepherd, and Martin Hall, Op cit, p.2 71 Ibid. 72 Sabine Marschall and Brian Kearney, Opportunities for Relevance: Architecture for the New South Africa (Epping: ABC Press, 2000), p.160. 73 http://www.phezulusafaripark.co.za/zuluculture.htm Refer Leslie Witz in: Ivan Karp, Corinne A. Kratz, Lynn Szwaja, and Tomas Ybarro-Frausto (eds.), Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006) for an account of the deliberate manufacture of ‘indigenous villages’ to promote an Apartheid brand of tourism in the 1950s. 29
Page 1 and 2: Making Memory Space: Recollection a
Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr Hélène Frichot
Page 5 and 6: ABSTRACT Post Apartheid South Afric
Page 7 and 8: PREFACE During my recent travels, I
Page 9 and 10: spaces that are intended to facilit
Page 11 and 12: as the house of British multiple mu
Page 13 and 14: past and then resituate it in the m
Page 15 and 16: significance of site and built form
Page 17 and 18: 1. MEMORY AND SPACE Post Apartheid
Page 19 and 20: dominant narrative, and collective
Page 21 and 22: sometimes be radical change. Archit
Page 23 and 24: only able to visit museums at desig
Page 25 and 26: South Africa, and establishes a mod
Page 27 and 28: the intangible concept of cultural
Page 29 and 30: display, contributes to the product
Page 31: As discussed previously, ownership
Page 35 and 36: nationalism in an official way. The
Page 37 and 38: 2. TOPPLING TOTEMS: The Voortrekker
Page 39 and 40: epetition of monuments or ideas - a
Page 41 and 42: In a political climate clamouring f
Page 43 and 44: Afrikaners. The narrative of stoici
Page 45 and 46: As an expression of the civilising
Page 47 and 48: espect, the memory space and the la
Page 49 and 50: heightened by its separation. Secon
Page 51 and 52: gain meaning and visibility within
Page 53 and 54: they are not in a position to contr
Page 55 and 56: past long before the Nationalist Go
Page 57 and 58: The African voice has been silenced
Page 59 and 60: accurate account of the past due to
Page 61 and 62: content to portray a definitive ver
Page 63 and 64: moving past a replica of the cemete
Page 65 and 66: the experiential model as an instig
Page 67 and 68: aggrandising force can determine th
Page 69 and 70: Throughout the museum, the visitor
Page 71 and 72: whereby the current political major
Page 73 and 74: In contrast, Georgi Verbeek suggest
Page 75 and 76: Giles Deleuze counters this positio
Page 77 and 78: such as Robben Island Museum where
Page 79 and 80: Summary In summary, the Apartheid M
Page 81 and 82: 4. PRESERVATION & RECONSTRUCTION: T
Page 83 and 84:
aspirations for the future of South
Page 85 and 86:
which occur at sites of trauma, off
Page 87 and 88:
has the potential to reiterate alre
Page 89 and 90:
individual vision of the present an
Page 91 and 92:
Addressing the past - the democrati
Page 93 and 94:
the new political regime. The resul
Page 95 and 96:
and inclusivity as a counter to the
Page 97 and 98:
through the integration of cutting
Page 99 and 100:
einforcer of the language of war th
Page 101 and 102:
5. COMMUNITY CONCEPTS: The Red Loca
Page 103 and 104:
originally conceived as part of a t
Page 105 and 106:
geographical focus, it acknowledges
Page 107 and 108:
of South Africa’s population, as
Page 109 and 110:
which the notion of ‘authenticity
Page 111 and 112:
uilding does not become a static, o
Page 113 and 114:
their own homes) and elegantly deta
Page 115 and 116:
Memory in this context is also empl
Page 117 and 118:
acknowledge and celebrate the histo
Page 119 and 120:
disregard for African modes of prod
Page 121 and 122:
CONCLUSION Whenever we are trying t
Page 123 and 124:
attempting to place memory at the f
Page 125 and 126:
All of these methodologies are base
Page 127 and 128:
concrete, wire and steel to articul
Page 129 and 130:
BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Benedict. Im
Page 131 and 132:
Deegan, Heather. The Politics of th
Page 133 and 134:
Huyssen, Andreas. Present Pasts: Ur
Page 135 and 136:
McEachern, Charmaine. Narratives of
Page 137 and 138:
Simpson, Moira G. Making Representa
show all

Making Memory Space: Recollection and Reconciliation in Post ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?