For fifteen years, tracts of land in District Six have stood empty in response to a community's anguish. Until the recent process towards restitution, there has been a strong reluctance to disturb the silent witness of this political landscape. In a remarkable instance of collaboration amongst communities, organisations, and artists, the District Six Sculpture Festival revitalised this space and re-marked it as a heritage site which heralds the return of community life to District Six.

The District Six Sculpture Festival was a project born out of the inspiration, energy and incentive of a large group of people. It was actively adopted as a project by the District Six Museum in March 1997, when a steering committee was established to guide the project forward. This committee consisted of a number of stakeholders namely: the District Six Museum, the District Six Civic Association, the District Six Restitution Committee, the Department of Art, Culture Science and Technology, the Cape Town City Council, the National Monuments Council, the South African National Gallery, the Association for Visual Arts and the District Six Development Forum.

Each of these organisations were individually approached and informed of the proposed project, and were asked to respond to the proposal, offering ideas or criticisms for the project.

It also provided artists with a sense of access to other artists, institutions, material suppliers, funding possibilities and new art mediums. Furthermore it introduced new possibilities in art making and curating to institutions and the public at large.

The aim of the project was to mark the space, history and future of the land of District Six, as well as to establish it as a Heritage site - one which would remind us of the tragedy of forced removals and which would, hopefully, claim public space for all those removed from the land. It also aimed to highlight the importance of people in the creation of heritage and history, and the part they play in re-marking the land.

The project was intended to promote a public culture of sculpture, highlight the work of local sculptors, draw local sculptors together from diverse backgrounds and enhance the district after redevelopment. A further aim was to initiate a public awareness of sculpture and the part it could play in re/looking at certain spaces. The aim was to encourage people to engage in works and debates around those works and to look at "public art" that was not preserved for eternity by its medium (bronze, steel, etc.), but that would instead be detrimentally affected by the elements and time.

Many artists were involved in and inspired by the protest around the tragedy of District Six. We realised that a large open air sculptural festival could use the landscape to make a final statement and protest against forced removals. It was decided that the artists could make a personal desicion about the time period their works would remain on site. It was, therefore, decided that some of the works need not last longer than the duration of the exhibition. In fact some would be symbolically destroyed by the redevelopment of the land early in 1998.

We wanted the exhibition to include as many artists and ex-residents as possible. We encouraged everyone (whether artist, ex resident or interested party) to get involved as s/he saw fit. This process of including people was done in a number of ways.

The Sculpture Exhibition and Festival opened on Heritage Day, 24 September 1997, with a celebratory procession from the Grand Parade to the festival site in District Six, led by the Alibama Malay Choir. Members of the public and ex-resident community were invited to join the carnival troops, choirs, drum majorettes, sports groups, artists, civic groups and ex-residents in the procession.

At the festival site the free musical feast continued, with artists such as The Sunshine Singers, The Princess Square Singers, Zayn Adam, Prophets of da City, Brasse van die Kaap, Four Feet Deep, The Honeymoon Suites, Black Noise and Positive Black Soul (Senegal). There was also free jazz and dance hall music performed by well-known local musicians.

Throughout the day there was entertainment for the children, as well as a marquee with board games and stalls with food and refreshments. There was also be performance art and dance pieces as well as informal tours to the sculpture sites where the artists talked about their work.

Where does your mind take you when you think of public sculpture? A uniformed man on a horse, a monument on a hill, or the scar of District Six at the foot of Table Mountain?

The Sculpture Festival in District Six offered artists an opportunity to challenge the nature of public art. The artists have worked collectively, motivated by their own passions and convictions, with a shared commitment to the project. More than fifty artists - led by Kevin Brand, who was himself born in District Six - enthusiastically sought materials and equipment, poled ideas and, inspired by stories told by ex-residents, worked together to create a sculptural landscape in District Six. Such collaboration however, did not hamper individual innovation, as the expression of diverse viewpoints was encouraged in public meetings and open discussions. In the process, the project challenged the elitism and inflated costs often characteristic of large public commissions.

The sculptures varied in concept, scale, and material. The works were not intended to last beyond the duration of the exhibition tho' some, in fact, may still need to be bulldozed during the redevelopment of District Six.

The reworking of the land mingled the historical processes of destruction and restitution with the creativity of the artists, the stories of the ex-residents and a renewed hope for the future.

Since the sculptures were temporary by nature, the exhibition and festival was documented with video productions, sound recordings, photographs, and a catalogue.

The District Six Sculpture Festival was very important as it provided alternatives for art making and curating in South Africa. It brought a large group of artists together, who had different levels of visual literacy, skills and education. The exhibition included the artists on all levels of decision making , thereby encouraging artists to learn more about the administration of such an exhibition and empowering them with more skills and knowledge.