Oral history has been at the centre of the Museum’s research practice and methodology since its formation. More than that, it has been an integral form of sharing and expression – a way to capture experience and memory. This approach has been informed by the need to maintain a historical record of those who were affected by forced removals and left ‘voiceless’ under Apartheid, but has also been shaped by the acknowledgment of people as historical actors and as always having had ‘a voice’  – evidenced by their own sense-making and narrative crafting of their experiences. As a result, the Museum’s approach to oral history is multi-faceted and takes the form of interviews, conversational sharing and storytelling, and structured storytelling with visitors. It also draws heavily on the intangible and unrecorded dynamic between people and their memories, and the Museum and its practice. These are the ways in which the oral historical record around District Six are crafted.

In the early days of its life, the Museum focused on general life histories. Later, it themed interviews around sports, food, music and experiences of other sites of removal.  The current  Oral History Campaign which started in 2017, was conceptualised as a means to explore notions of return, life in District Six and the impact of the restitution process on returnees to the area.

Between 2017 and 2018, a former resident of District Six conducted approximately 30 interviews on behalf of the Museum. These have contributed to the archived body of living stories about experiences of return, and have highlighted the complexities of returning to District Six. While many former residents do not believe they can recreate District Six as it once was, the challenges of rebuilding community life in a new time and context, is apparent.

(All projects and programmes of the District Six Museum are structured inter-departmentally,  with a lead department being assigned to each. The Oral History Project is a project of the Collections, Research and Documentation Department of the Museum and was co-ordinated by Chrischené Julius.)