Falling Monuments, Reluctant Ruins

Goolam Vahed, Muchaparara Musemwa, Pauline Guinard, Barbara Morovich, Temba Middelmann, Brendan Hart, Yasmin Mayat, Roshan Dadoo, Arianna Lissoni, Eric Itzkin, Tara Weber, Ali Khangela Hlongwane, Kelly Gillespie, Sally Gaule, Nnamdi Elleh, Faeeza Ballim, Hilton Judin

Description

Falling Monuments, Reluctant Ruins: The Persistence of the Past in the Architecture of Apartheid interrogates how, in the era of decolonisation, post-apartheid South Africa reckons with its past in order to shape its future. Architects, historians, artists, social anthropologists and urban planners seek answers in this book to complex and unsettling questions around heritage, ruins and remembrance. What do we do with hollow memorials and political architectural remnants? Which should remain, which forgotten, and which dismantled? The contributors examine the influence of public memory, planning and activism on such anguished places of oppression, resistance and defiance. Their focus on visible markers in the landscape to interrogate our past will make readers reconsider these spaces, looking at their landscape and history anew.

 Through a series of 14 empirically grounded chapters and over 48 images, the contributors seek to understand how, in the decades following the dismantling of apartheid, architecture contests or subverts these persistent conditions in order to promote social justice, land reclamation and urban rehabilitation.

  This ground-breaking collection is an important resource for professionals, academics and activists working in South Africa today.



Acknowledgements

List of Figures

Foreword – Muchaparara Musemwa

Introduction – Hilton Judin

Part One: Lands

Chapter 1 Land Dispossession and the Ghosts of the Medupi Power Station – Faeeza Ballim

Chapter 2 A Community Journey: Return to Juliwe Cemetery in Roodepoort, Johannesburg – Eric Itzkin

Chapter 3 Public Memory and Transformation at Constitution Hill and Gandhi Square in Johannesburg – Temba John Dawson Middelmann

Chapter 4 Ejaradini: Notes Towards Modelling Black Gardens as a Response to the Coloniality of Museums – MADEYOULOOK

Part Two: Buildings

Chapter 5 Johannesburg Central Police Station and the Photograph as Evidence – Sally Gaule

Chapter 6 The Persistence of Robben Island: Abolition and the Prison Museum – Kelly Gillespie

Chapter 7 The Apartheid Pass Office in Johannesburg and a Heritage of Destruction – Hilton Judin

Chapter 8 Indian Trading, Art Deco Buildings and Urban Modernity in a Segregated Town: Jubilee House in Krugersdorp – Arianna Lissoni and Roshan Dadoo

Chapter 9 An Uncertain Heritage and Resistance: Transforming the Drill Hall in Johannesburg – Barbara Morovich and Pauline Guinard

Part Three: Statues, as Monuments

Chapter 10 Creating Spaces of Memorialisation: New Delville Wood (France) and SS Mendi (South Africa) – Yasmin Mayat and Brendan Hart

Chapter 11 Re-historicising Credo Mutwa’s Kwa Khaya Lendaba Cultural Village in Soweto – Ali Khangela Hlongwane and Tara Weber

Chapter 12 Facing (Down) the Coloniser? The Mandela Statue at Cape Town’s City Hall – Cynthia Kros

Chapter 13 ‘Where’s Our Monument?’ Commemorating Indian Indentured Labour in South Africa –Goolam Vahed

Chapter 14 Decolonisation, Monuments, and a New Architectural Language – Nnamdi Elleh

Contributors

Index

Sujets

• architectural history
• HISTORY
• África
• History of architecture
• General officer
• History of Africa
• General
• Africa
• Architecture

Informations

• Publié par: WITS University Press
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776146703
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Falling Monuments, Reluctant Ruins

Falling Monuments, Reluctant Ruins
The Persistence of the Past in the Architecture of Apartheid
Edited by Hilton Judin
Published in South Africa by:
Wits University Press
1 Jan Smuts Avenue
Johannesburg 2001
www.witspress.co.za
Compilation © Hilton Judin 2021
Chapters © Individual contributors 2021
Published edition © Wits University Press 2021
Images and figures © Copyright holders
Cover image: Back entrance to Pass Office hall from waiting yard, 80 Albert Street,
Johannesburg, 2012. Photograph by Jo Ractliffe
First published 2021
http://dx.doi.org.10.18772/22021066673
978-1-77614-667-3 (Paperback)
978-1-77614-668-0 (Hardback)
978-1-77614-669-7 (Web PDF)
978-1-77614-670-3 (EPUB)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act Act 98 of 1978.
All images remain the property of the copyright holders. The publishers gratefully acknowledge the publishers institutions and individuals referenced in captions for the use of images. Every effort has been made to locate the original copyright holders of the images reproduced here; please contact Wits University Press in case of any omissions or errors.
Project manager: Catherine Damerell
Copy editor: Lynda Gilfillan
Proofreader: Tessa Botha
Indexer: Sanet le Roux
Cover design: Hybrid Creative
Typeset in 10 point Garamond Pro
CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
FOREWORD
Muchaparara Musemwa
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Hilton Judin
PART ONE: LANDS
1 LAND DISPOSSESSION AND THE GHOSTS OF THE MEDUPI POWER STATION
Faeeza Ballim
2 A COMMUNITY JOURNEY: RETURN TO JULIWE CEMETERY IN ROODEPOORT, JOHANNESBURG
Eric Itzkin
3 PUBLIC MEMORY AND TRANSFORMATION AT CONSTITUTION HILL AND GANDHI SQUARE IN JOHANNESBURG
Temba John Dawson Middelmann
4 EJARADINI: NOTES TOWARDS MODELLING BLACK GARDENS AS A RESPONSE TO THE COLONIALITY OF MUSEUMS
MADEYOULOOK
PART TWO: BUILDINGS
5 JOHANNESBURG CENTRAL POLICE STATION AND THE PHOTOGRAPH AS EVIDENCE
Sally Gaule
6 THE PERSISTENCE OF ROBBEN ISLAND: ABOLITION AND THE PRISON MUSEUM
Kelly Gillespie
7 THE APARTHEID PASS OFFICE IN JOHANNESBURG AND A HERITAGE OF DESTRUCTION
Hilton Judin
8 INDIAN TRADING, ART DECO AND URBAN MODERNITY IN A SEGREGATED TOWN: JUBILEE HOUSE IN KRUGERSDORP
Arianna Lissoni and Roshan Dadoo
9 AN UNCERTAIN HERITAGE AND RESISTANCE: TRANSFORMING THE DRILL HALL IN JOHANNESBURG
Barbara Morovich and Pauline Guinard
PART THREE: STATUES, AS MONUMENTS
10 CREATING SPACES OF MEMORIALISATION: NEW DELVILLE WOOD (FRANCE) AND SS MENDI (SOUTH AFRICA)
Yasmin Mayat and Brendan Hart
11 RE-HISTORICISING CREDO MUTWA’S KWA KHAYA LENDABA CULTURAL VILLAGE IN SOWETO
Ali Khangela Hlongwane and Tara Weber
12 FACING (DOWN) THE COLONISER? THE MANDELA STATUE AT CAPE TOWN’S CITY HALL
Cynthia Kros
13 ‘WHERE’S OUR MONUMENT?’ COMMEMORATING INDIAN INDENTURED LABOUR IN SOUTH AFRICA
Goolam Vahed
14 DECOLONISATION, MONUMENTS, AND A NEW ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE
Nnamdi Elleh
CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX
LIST OF FIGURES
Frontispiece Passage from waiting yard to back entrance of Pass Office hall, 80 Albert Street, Johannesburg, 2012. Photograph by Jo Ractliffe
Back page Medical examination rooms and counter, 80 Albert Street, Johannesburg, 2012. Photograph by Jo Ractliffe
CHAPTER 2
Figure 2.1 A view of the Dobsonville History Exhibition at the Roodepoort Museum. Photograph by Carolina Geldenhuys (Roodepoort Museum)
Figure 2.2 The empty site where Juliwe township once stood, with the former cemetery in the south-east corner. Photograph courtesy Roodepoort Museum
Figure 2.3 A blue heritage plaque awarded by the City of Johannesburg stands alongside a community memorial. Photograph by Eric Itzkin
CHAPTER 3
Figure 3.1 The public square at Constitution Hill, with a few tourists and uniformed guards. Photograph by Temba Middelmann
Figure 3.2 Gandhi Square on a typical weekday morning, with the Gandhi statue opposite the Mall. Photograph by Temba Middelmann
CHAPTER 4
Figure 4.1 Archival photograph from the Ronald and Torrance Ngilima collection, exhibited as part of Ejaradini. Photographed in Benoni Old Location or Wattville Township, c. 1950. RN1302C, Ngilima Photo Archives
Figure 4.2 Archival photograph from the Ronald and Torrance Ngilima collection, exhibited as part of Ejaradini. Photographed in Benoni Old Location or Wattville Township, 1940–60. RN4058S, Ngilima Photo Archives
CHAPTER 5
Figure 5.1 View along Commissioner Street with Johannesburg Central Police Station, 2009. Photograph by Sally Gaule
Figure 5.2 John Vorster Square, 1972. © Sunday Times
Figure 5.3 Page from the police ‘terrorist album’. Ronnie Kasrils has kindly permitted his image to be shown here. National Archives, Pretoria. Digital copy from Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand
Figure 5.4 Former ‘non-white’ entrance of Johannesburg Central Police Station, 2019. Photograph by Sally Gaule
Figure 5.5 Johannesburg Central Police Station from M1 highway, 2017. Photograph by Sally Gaule
Figure 5.6 Corridor of Johannesburg Central Police Station, 2018. Photograph by Sally Gaule
Figure 5.7 Removal of the bust of B. J. Vorster, September 1997. Trevor Samson, © Business Day
Figure 5.8 Surveyor’s chair, roof of Johannesburg Central Police Station, 2008. Photograph by Guy Trangoš
CHAPTER 6
Figure 6.1 Voorberg Correctional Centre Medium A section, with Mr Flynn in the foreground. Photograph by Mikhael Subotsky
Figure 6.2 Voorberg Correctional Centre Medium B section, cell. Photograph by Mikhael Subotsky
CHAPTER 7
Figure 7.1 Back entrance to Pass Office hall from waiting yard, 80 Albert Street, Johannesburg, 2012. Photograph by Jo Ractliffe
Figure 7.2 ‘The queues at Albert Street are long and tedious, but for the man in a hurry 50c slipped to the right cop can get him to the top of the line ...’. May 1968. Photograph by Drum photographer. APN252546. DM2008103103: SAED. Baileys African History Archive
Figure 7.3 A–C Top to bottom: DSCN1731 destroyed clinic, Diepkloof; DSCN1711 Orlando East beer hall; DSCN1726 WRAB building with collapsed roof, Orlando East, Soweto June 1976
Figure 7.3 D–F Top to bottom: DSCN2085 WRAB office, Dobsonville; DSCN1946 community hall inside after fire, Thokoza; DSCN1730 destroyed WRAB building, Dube, Soweto June 1976
Figure 7.3 G–I Top to bottom: DSCN1733 WRAB building fire damage, Diepkloof; DSCN1737 fire-damaged building; DSCN1917 aerial view of building, Soweto June 1976
Figure 7.3 J–L Top to bottom: DSCN2151 WRAB building with graffiti; DSCN2167 WRAB office, Meadowlands; DSCN2522 WRAB office building, Soweto June 1976. Archives of the Commission of Inquiry into the Riots in Soweto and Elsewhere, 1976 – 1978 . National Archives, Pretoria: K345 [missing file]. Digital Copies from Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand
Figure 7.4 Main administrative hall, Pass Office, 80 Albert Street, Johannesburg, 2012. Photograph by Jo Ractliffe
CHAPTER 8
Figure 8.1 Solly’s (formerly Jubilee House), corner of Market and Commissioner Streets, Krugersdorp, 2015. Photograph by Arianna Lissoni
Figure 8.2 Jubilee House, c. 1925. To this day, a copy of the photograph hangs in the ‘office of the manager’ in Solly’s shop, the only trace of its former owners
Figure 8.3 Jubilee House, 1993. Photograph by Roshan Dadoo
Figure 8.4 ‘Magnificent New Department Store for Krugersdorp – M. M. Dadoo & Sons, Ltd.’, The Star , 28 June 1940. Courtesy Roshan Dadoo
CHAPTER 9
Figure 9.1 Sketch of proposed renovation of Drill Hall by the architect Michael Hart
Figure 9.2 Map of the Drill Hall and its immediate surroundings, by Pauline Guinard
Figure 9.3 Skateboarding at the Drill Hall. Photograph by Pauline Guinard
CHAPTER 10
Figure 10.1 The new memorial looking towards the original memorial arch. Photograph by Anix Consulting
Figure 10.2 Thin members of the concrete pergola create a sense of enclosure when viewing the integrated display panels; they also repeat patterns and shadows that move through the day. Photograph by Papercut Photography
CHAPTER 11
Figure 11.1 Entrance of the Kwa Khaya Lendaba cultural village, c. 1974. Photograph by Gilbert Briscoe. Courtesy of the Johannesburg Art Gallery
Figure 11.2 Credo Mutwa and amathwasa , with tourist onlookers, c. 1974. Photograph by Gilbert Briscoe. Courtesy of the Johannesburg Art Gallery
Figure 11.3 A grass hut, with the Oppenheimer Tower in the background, c. 1974. Photograph by Gilbert Briscoe. Courtesy of the Johannesburg Art Gallery
CHAPTER 12
Figure 12.1 Taking ‘selfies’ in front of the statue of Edward VII on the Parade. Photograph by Cynthia Kros
Figure 12.2 Mandela statue on the balcony of the Cape Town City Hall. Photograph by Cynthia Kros
CHAPTER 13
Figure 13.1 Sketch by Nanda Soobben for the 1860 Monuments Committee for the statue of an Indian sugar cane plantation worker, 2013. Provided to author by Sinothe Thabethe, KwaMuhle Museum
Figure 13.2 1860 project sod-turning ceremony at the beachfront, Durban. From the left are Vic Pillay, Mayor Zandile Gumede (partially obscured), KZN Premier Willies Mchunu, A. V. Mahomed and Seelan Archary, 15 November 2016. Photograph by Gcina Ndwalane
CHAPTER 14
Figures 14.1A and B Tiglachin (our struggle) monument was built in the Ethiopia–Cuba Friendship Park, Addis Ababa, in 1984 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the socialist revolution of Ethiopia. Photographs by Nnamdi Elleh
Figures 14.2A and B The 51-metre column of the Memorial for Martyred Freedom Fighters and Patriots, Mek’ele, built by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) at the end of the Cold War (after the socialist government had fallen in May