Streets

exstreets06A large and unique floor map depicting the streets and landscape of the old District Six covers the central area of the church. Ex-residents have inscribed their family names and spaces where they once lived on the map. Artists' prints, paintings and poems depicting their experiences in District Six and of forced removals border the map, visually unifying the spirit of the people of District Six. Hanging directly above in the choir gallery are four banners displaying the religious symbols of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Hinduism. It is an acknowledgement of the religious harmony and tolerance that existed in the neighbourhood.

The exhibition was not to recreate District as much as repossess the history of the area as a place where people lived, worked, loved, and struggled.

The most important feature of this exhibition is the 75 authentic street signs which hang in three ladder columns as a backdrop to the map - a tangible reminder of "home", signposting nothing but our memories and treasured experiences of a past District Six.

There are three boxes displaying archaeological artefacts directly below the street signs. They examine fragments of every day life in Horstley Street, collected and installed by archaeological students at the University of Cape Town.

Hanover Street, Horstley Street, Tyne Street, Vernon Terrace, and Constitution Street

Taking a closer look at the alcoves we are introduced to five streets - Hanover Street, Horstley Street, Tyne Street, Vernon Terrace, and Constitution Street. We are taken on a journey through these streets; family photo albums line the walls and draw us into the intimacy of personal histories and stories.
Exterior facades of Westminster Café, a house on Horstley Street, Vernon Terrace, a house on Tyne Street, and a shop in Hanover Street allow viewers to look through tiny windows to explore the interior spaces of a typical kitchen area, lounge, shop/café, and a carpentry workshop.

Upstairs in the gallery hang parallel rows of large transparent portraits of well-known ex-residents. Bennie Kies, Principal of Trafalgar High School, Dr Abduraman, founder of the African People's Organisation, his daughter Cissy Gool who was a member of the Cape Town City Council, Alex LaGuma, a writer and many more.

exstreets08Memory Cloth

A highlight of the Museum is the "memory cloth" on which is written comments, messages and personal memories by ex-residents of District Six. The cloth is over 300 metres long and continues to grow. There is an additional cloth for visitors on which they can write comments and messages. The Museum has had numerous prominent visitors such as American Vice-President Al Gore, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the Queen of Sweden, Mary Robinson of Ireland, Swiss President Cotti, and many more…

Many stories of District Six have yet to be told. The Streets Exhibition initiated the beginnings of a chapter to this broader story. Over the last 5 years we continued to trace and develop a picture of District Six and other communities who have also experienced forced removals. A series of fifteen exhibitions have been added to the core Streets Exhibition framework:

  • Streets - Retracing District Six - the opening and core exhibition
  • (setting apart) - a collaborative exhibition at the Castle
  • Ghosts of District Six - a mobile exhibition
  • Images and Representation - a collaborative exhibition at the South African National Gallery
  • Media Works - an exhibition of posters and T-shirts of the struggle
  • (Dis)playing the Game - tracing the history of 100 years of sport in disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape
  • Janjse Wissema Photographic Exhibition about District Six
  • The Last Days of District Six - a photographic exhibition by photographer Jan Greshoff
  • Sol Plaatjies Exhibition
  • The Legacy of Steve Biko - 20 years - a collaborative exhibition with Agency Afrika
  • The Sculpture Festival and Exhibition - by local artists on the landscape of District Six
  • District Six Revisited - a photographic exhibition by George Hallet et al
  • Tramway Road - focused on the lives of 300 families from Tramway Road, which was one of the first communities forcibly removed from the Table Mountain area in 1959
  • Buckingham Palace - an exhibition based on the novel by Richard Rive. This exhibition focused on the educational needs of both the students and teachers who studied this novel as a setwork in the matric (Grade 12) syllabus
  • Four Stories - an exhibition about four District Six stories; the stories of Noor Ebrahim, Linda Fortune, Nomvuyo Ncelwane, and Cape Jazz
  • Digging Deeper - our current exhibition
  • Urban Fabrics - a temporary Exhibition held in the Sacks Futeran building, in Buitenkant Street while the museum was closed for filming in July 2001
  • A History of Paradise - an exhibition about the people of Protea, Kirstenbosch, who were removed under the Group Areas Act in 1966 - 1969.
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