Creating an environment that honours the other side of the history of Leeuwenhof. This is the objective of the Leeuwenhof Slave Quarters Remembrance Gallery which was officially launched on Saturday 19 February.
Leeuwenhof is an estate in the Gardens area. It is the official residence of the Premier of the Western Cape.
The Remembrance Gallery stretches out on the grounds of Leeuwenhof and occupies the former slave quarters, the Bo-Tuin Huys and the garden between those two important heritage buildings.
The gallery reflects on the cruelty of slavery and includes an exhibition on “enslaved lives” – the story of Leeuwenhof’s slave quarters and the lived reality of those who were enslaved not just in Leeuwenhof but also in the Cape.
It also includes an art exhibition and rotating exhibition.
Between 1658 and 1807, an estimated 63 000 people were taken from their homes and brought to the Cape as slaves for the expanding settlement by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and later by the British colonial authorities. The people enslaved in the Cape came from Madagascar, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and during the early VOC period, some were brought in from West Africa.
The launch included performances by Cape Town 7 Steps Minstrels, The Hilton Schilder Ghoema Band, Janine Overmeyer (The Poet Blaq Pearl) and The Cape Malay Board Choir among other.
Speaking to the purpose of the gallery Premier Alan Winde, says: “When I became premier and I moved into Leeuwenhof, I was told of the history of the buildings, which, as an estate in the 18th century once had slave quarters. It made both Tracy and I pause to reflect on the horror of slavery, that taints our country’s past, and so we decided to do something about it.”
Winde says the gallery reflects the true history of the property.
“It’s an art gallery where artists can tell stories and remember. So that we can also remember and know that we can’t go back; we’ve got to go forward. But you can only do that when you tell your stories when you feel the pain and when you allow people to express the pain. Its about art, poetry, song, colour, emotion.”
Anroux Marais, Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, says: “While visiting Leeuwenhof in 2019, Premier Alan Winde shared the sad story of how those enslaved were locked up in the small wine cellar next to the dining room, while the host and guests were enjoying themselves in luxury. The enslaved were only unlocked and allowed out after dinner to clear the table and to attend to requests by the host.”
Winde says the gallery is available to artists in the province at any time.
Kamyar Bineshtarigh, one of the artists, says she created artworks based on Arabic Afrikaans.
“I feel excited to be part of this project. I’ve created a series of work focused on Arabic Afrikaans which was Afrikaans written with Arabic letters. There were communities of Cape Malay and Cape Muslim communities, mostly enslaved people that started writing Afrikaans. I used those archived texts and scripts to paint my art works.”
Rory Emmett created two paintings entitled ‘Artists in memorial’ this is an image of two workers who were emancipated slaves who was given volition to start their own artisan practices.
“The painting was photo based, so I found a photograph in a book about Cape Town history and spaces.
“The other art piece entitled ‘Wedding Cake’ is from my family photo album and with this I was questioning cultural tradition and inherited forms of celebrating life events.”
Léshaan Moses, a Mitchell’s Plain artist, says this is her debut exhibition.
“I did an artwork about gang related things in my community. The artwork is about how they target kids and in order to be initiated into a gang you have to kill someone but at the same time you are also killing yourself.”
The Slave Quarters Remembrance Gallery will include:
.An exhibition on the history of slavery: The “Enslaved Lives” exhibition contextualizes the Leeuwenhof Slave Quarters within the history and legacy of enslavement in Cape Town by focusing on the enslaved people who lived and worked at Leeuwenhof.
It includes a “Remember us” list of names of people who have been enslaved at Leeuwenhof. Those who were enslaved were renamed as slaveholders chose.
.An art exhibition that provides a space where social, cultural, and economic legacies of slavery can be voiced works of art. The works in this exhibition are from the permanent collection of the Cape Town Museum.
.The third element is a rotating exhibition of artworks for sale, curated by the Association for Visual Arts (AVA). Artworks are sourced through an open call for applications. Submitted artworks do not necessarily reflect slavery – the artist may have a connection with the history of slavery at the Cape.
Saturday’s exhibition is the first of a series of five exhibitions planned until March next year.
In future, the Gallery will be open to the public every first Saturday of the month, from 10:00 to 14:00 and by appointment.
Guided tours of both the historical exhibition and the rotating art exhibition will take place on the first Saturday of each month. These tours are coordinated by AVA and the Cape Town Museum.
