The Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, and the Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sports, Anroux Marais, officially opened the Leeuwenhof Slave Quarters Remembrance Gallery in Cape Town on Saturday, 19 February 2022. It occupies the former slave quarters, Bo-Tuin Huys and the garden between those two important heritage buildings.
Premier Winde said it reflects on the cruelty of slavery and includes an exhibition on “enslaved lives”, “the story of Leeuwenhof’s slave quarters and the lived reality of those who were enslaved not just in Leeuwenhof but also in the Cape.”
In fact, Leeuwenhof’s history as an estate in the 18th century allows people to understand the local reaches of enslavement, and the historical trauma that continues.
“Between 1658 and 1807, an estimated 63 000 people were taken from their homes and brought to the Cape as slaves for the expanding settlement by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and later by the British colonial authorities. The people enslaved in the Cape came from Madagascar, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and during the early VOC period, some were brought in from West Africa,” Premier Winde explains.
He goes on to outline how when he became Premier, and moved into Leeuwenhof, he was told of the history of the buildings, which made both him and his wife pause to reflect on the horror of slavery. It was decided that something should be done about it, and this Remembrance Gallery is the result of the process that followed.
“Through this exhibition, tribute is paid to the thousands of people forcibly uprooted from their homes in various parts of Africa and Asia and who were enslaved at the Cape, as well as those born into slavery locally,” he adds.
The Slave Quarters Remembrance Gallery also includes an art exhibition and rotating exhibition, and not only honours those who were enslaved, but is an opportunity for their decedents to make a living through their art, which will then be sold at the gallery.
The launch of the gallery was MC’d by Mr Africa Melane and included spectacular performances by Cape Town 7 Steps Minstrels, The Hilton Schilder Ghoema Band, Mr Ishmael Sabodien, The Poet Blaq Pearl, namely, Janine Overmeyer and The Cape Malay Board Choir.
According to Premier Winde, the Slave Quarters Remembrance Gallery will include:
- An exhibition on the history of slavery: this exhibition aims to create a place of reflection around enslavement. The “Enslaved Lives” exhibition contextualises the Leeuwenhof Slave Quarters within the history and legacy of enslavement in Cape Town by focusing on the enslaved people who lived and worked at Leeuwenhof. It includes a “Remember us” list of names of people who have been enslaved at Leeuwenhof. Those who were enslaved were renamed as slaveholders chose. Very few historical documents remained to tell the story of enslaved people. This resulted in marginalisation within historical narratives.
- An art exhibition that provides a space where social, cultural, and economic legacies of slavery can be voiced works of art. The works in this exhibition are from the permanent collection of the Cape Town Museum. Several of the artworks have been procured specifically for this exhibition.
- The third element is a rotating exhibition of artworks for sale, curated by the Association for Visual Arts (AVA). Artworks are sourced through an open call for applications. Submitted artworks do not necessarily reflect slavery – the artist may have a connection with the history of slavery at the Cape.
Moving forward, the Gallery will be open to the public every first Saturday of the month, from 10am – 2pm, and by appointment. Guided tours of both the historical exhibition and the rotating art exhibition will take place on the first Saturday of each month, and are coordinated by AVA and the Cape Town Museum.
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Picture: Premier Alan Winde / Facebook