The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

Significantly, the schoolgoing and popular audiences at whom the directory was aimed
were invited to participate in the biographical exercise in public historical production. In
the light of “profound discrepancies” in recorded information created “under the
repressive conditions of the Apartheid era”, as well as the need for accuracy, a special
“response and information form” was provided to encourage readers to submit correct or
provide additional information for future editions. In addition, the Museum asked readers
to consider who had been omitted from the gallery of leaders: “There may well be ...
people not listed that you feel to be important and which should be included in the
Directory”. However, the Museum warned that sources would need to be submitted in
order that their accuracy and reliability may be scrutinised. The museum promised that all
information subsequently used would be acknowledged so that “the people will be able to
become part of this book about their leaders”. 47
MuseumAfrica in Newtown, Johannesburg was another museum that encouraged visitor
participation in the creation of resistance biographies as part of the process of institutional
transformation. MuseumAfrica had emerged out of the old municipal Africana Museum,
and “embarked on a completely new direction”, hoping to “transform itself into a
dynamic community space” where “the diverse history of southern Africa” could be
explored. This it did through a new exhibition, ‘Johannesburg Transformations’, which
dealt with Johannesburg’s earliest history as well as themes of labour, politics, urban
conditions and cultural expression. Inspired by the social history research of the History
Workshop, this exhibition was an attempt by the Museum to chart a new course away
from its reputation as “a boring, static and largely irrelevant display space for
predominantly white, colonial artefacts”. 48
47 David Owen, Ubukhosi Neenkokeli, pp 12‐13; ‘Ubukhosi Neenkokeli Response and Information Form’
(Pamphlet).
48 Deon van Tonder, ‘From Mausoleum to Museum: Revisiting Public History at the Inauguration of
MuseumAfrica, Newtown’, South African Historical Journal, No 31, November 1994, pp 166, 177‐183.
See also Carolyn Hamilton, ‘Against the Museum as Chameleon’, South African Historical Journal, No
31, November 1994. These articles assess the displays mounted to inaugurate MuseumAfrica’s new
exhibitions on its opening in August 1994 and to analyse their curatorial methods and intellectual
influences.
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