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Slaves were #emancipated on this day in1838 after

Slaves were #emancipated on this day in1838 after being forced to spend four years of apprenticeship with their enslavers.

Enslaved labour was used to procure the #lime, #timber and #stone that was used to build the Castle of Good Hope. They were also used to dig and build the #moat around the #Castle.

Slaves were incarcerated at the Castle where trials were held. Punishment was administered outside the walls of the Castle on the site where the Old Drill Hall stands. Between 1680 and 1795 an average of one slave per month was publicly #executed.

Read more about the #heritagesites associated with #slaves in the Western Cape in Alan Mountain's, An Unsung Heritage: Perspectives on Slavery, published by #davidphilippublishers

#alanmountain #emancipationday #southafrica #capetown #westerncape #dutchslavery #indianoceanslavery #dutchcolonialism #castleofgoodhope #history #heritage #olddrillhall #capitalpunishment #publicexecutions

I have been writing about the #narratives that are

I have been writing about the #narratives that are held in #threads and #textiles. Did you know that #crochet was called poor man's lace because it was invented as a way to produce a cheaper alternative to the #lace the wealthy adorned their gowns, headpieces and jackets with?

These are examples from the Stellenbosch Village Museum.

Both my grandmothers crocheted, one to earn a living and the other as a way of fundraising for the church.

#poormanslace #writing #handmade #handcrafted #history #heritage #capetown #southafrica #creativeheritage #stellenboschvillagemuseum

"Passing" or "crossing the colour line" enabled th

"Passing" or "crossing the colour line" enabled those who could do so to access #freedoms or #privileges that were limited to certain #racial groupings, often around marriage, employment or residence. While there may have been advantages, there was also #loss of self, family, community and history.

I've just watched Rebecca Hall's #directorial debut, starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negra in this #film adaptation of Nella Larsen's 1929 #novel, #Passing, on #Netflix. The black and white film adds to the intensity of the issues of marriage, identity, family and community that the movie deals with.

#rebeccahall #tessathompson #ruthnegra #nellalarsen #crossingthecolourline #racism #segregation #apartheid #southafrica #USA

Stellenbosch Village Museum. Part 3. This hook han

Stellenbosch Village Museum. Part 3. This hook hanging on the kitchen wall in one of the houses that make up #stellenboschvillagemuseum is for #curing #biltong.

•People have been preserving meat as a #survival technique since #ancient times, across many #cultures, using brine, salt, vinegar, and saltpetre, amongst other ingredients.

•The Dutch added the #spices - pepper, coriander and cloves - they brought from the #East. Coriander, in particular, has high #antimicrobial properties.

•The word #biltong is derived from the Dutch "bil" for rump/buttock and "tong" for strip, therefore a "strip of meat".

•Any guesses as to what this hook is made of?

#preservedmeat #driedmeat #brine #saltpetre #vinegar #pepper #coriander #cloves #dutch #dutchcolonialism #food #foodways #foodheritage #southafrica #Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch Village Museum Part 2. Fire Engine. 1

Stellenbosch Village Museum Part 2. Fire Engine. 18th century.

•Contrary to the #dominant #narratives of the #enslaved meekly accepting their lot (and the implications that #slavery therefore could not have been that bad), there were many incidents of slave #protest.

•One of the ways that they could show their #resistance was through #arson - setting alight the thatched roofs of their "master's" houses. This offense was punishable by death through public hanging or being drawn and quartered on a wagon wheel.

•The fact that enslaved people were prepared to risk death is an indication of how dire their situation was and how dissatisfied they were with #enslavement.

#dutchslavery #dutch #dutchcolonialism #Stellenbosch #stellenboschvillagemuseum #fireengine #fire #execution #deathpenalty #colonialism #southafrica

Stellenbosch Village Museum Part 1. I finally mad

Stellenbosch Village Museum Part 1.
I finally made it to Blettermanhuis, one of the four houses that make up #stellenboschvillagemuseum. Two years ago I assisted with the small #exhibition on the #history of #slavery in the house owned by Hendrik Lodewyk Bletterman, the last #landdrost or #magistrate of #Stellenbosch appointed by the Dutch East India Company. He resigned in protest when the #British occupied the #Cape in 1799.

•Bletterman owned 15 #slaves whose names were found in his property records. These are now hanging on the wall, lasercut out of wood, opposite a short history of slavery in the area.

•The last picture shows a close up of the names of some of the #enslaved, the surnames, Van de Kaap and Van Mosambicque, indicate where they were born.

#blettermanhuis #heritage #southafrica #dutchcolonialism #dutcheastindiacompany #dutch #netherlands #dutchslavery #britishoccupation

The Charter by Sethembile Msezane at the Rupert Mu

The Charter by Sethembile Msezane at the Rupert Museum in #Stellenbosch. Part of the #exhibition, Any Given Sunday, featuring public artistic interventions that occurred in 2016 around the city of Cape Town in response to student protest movement #feesmustfall.

•The draped cloth that appears to be dipped in two basins of blood is printed with the words of the Freedom Charter, a reminder of the unresolved issues which still face our #society and our #youth, in particular.

•The exhibition is on until 16 January 2022 and includes work by Zanele Muholi (whose work is captured in the video in the background of the photo).

#studentprotest #art #visualart #publicart #freedomcharter #rupertmuseum #stellenbosch #southafrica #zanelemuholi #photography #protestart #interdisciplinaryperformance #sethembilemsezane

I came across this #classic, Mhudi: An Epic of Sou

I came across this #classic, Mhudi: An Epic of South Africa Native Life a Hundred Years Ago by Sol Plaatje, at the local #library. It was originally published in 1930 by Lovedale Press (the title page is in the second photo).
•The short #novel is based on "the day Mzilikazi's tax collectors were killed" (c1830) and tells the story of Mhudi, a #Matabele woman, who flees from the violence that is unleashed by this incident.
•Mhudi is the first known novel by a black South African writer. Plaatje's intention was to arrest the spread of #European ideas, which were fast replacing #Sechuana folktales, by "cultivating a love for art and literature in the #vernacular".
•Themes of #exile, #migration and #dispossession are central to the book.
•Plaatje dedicated the book to his daughter who was named after the SA writer, Olive Schreiner.
This edition was published by Ad. Donker, a subsidiary of #JonathanBall, in 1989. The cover painting is by SA artist and musician, Gerard Sekoto.

#art #literature #vernacularwriting #solplaatje #soltplaatje #africanwriters #southafrica #lovedalepress #history #gerardsekoto #music #oliveschreiner

"No matter where we are, we are here." Nothing li

"No matter where we are, we are here."

Nothing like an hour or two in the District Six Museum to ground me. Taken a while to settle down after my recent #travels but this place is always like coming home. Paging through #transcripts in a quiet, cool corner was just what the doctor ordered!

The #museum has had its fair share of challenges recently, not least of all lack of #funding. Please support an irreplaceable #community #resource. The museum is open Mondays to Fridays at the moment.

#districtsix #districtsixmuseum #cominghome #homecoming #capetown #southafrica #history #heritage #forcedremovals

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ABOUT NADIA KAMIES

Nadia Kamies was born and raised in Cape Town. She graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BSc in Occupational Therapy in 1984 and worked extensively with children in hospital, school and private practice settings.

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