Abstract
Located in the centre of Johannesburg, Constitution Hill is a hybrid place of commemoration and urban development: it is a former prison-turned-memorial museum that documents the experiences of those detained during apartheid; it is a multifunctional urban location that features the new Constitutional Court; and it is the home of the South African Historical Archive with its roots in the anti-apartheid struggle and its current task of managing the Constitution Hill Collection. The hybridity of the site reflects the curators’ emphasis on living heritage, on remembering the past in response to the complex needs of the present. Such a multifunctional space of commemoration, political activism and urban rehabilitation has to navigate competing interests: ideally serving as a campus for human rights, while also requiring the temporary closure of the permanent exhibitions when the venue is used to host other events. Based on extensive archival research and repeated visits to the Women’s Jail between 2013 and 2019, I argue that this urban memorial museum is shaped by often conflicting demands which undermine the objectives of the curators and former detainees who had wanted to expand the archive of apartheid experiences and render visible women’s unique responses to institutionalized racism and its insidious infiltration of everyday life.
Presenters
Marie KrugerAssociate Professor, English and Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies, University of Iowa, Iowa, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2020 Special Focus: Museums & Historical Urban Landscapes
KEYWORDS
Constitution Hill, Apartheid, Women’s Jail, Memorial museum, Living heritage
