Opinions
Category: Have your Say
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The role of interpreters in facilitating colonial conquest –Malinche, Pocahontas and Krotoa
Responding to an earlier post by Lucy Campbell, Kobus Faasen compares the lives of three prominent indigenous women who were introduced to “the people from the sea” at an early age. Malinche (modern-day Mexico), Pocahontas (Jamestown, North America) and Krotoa (Cape of Good Hope, South Africa).
Dispossessed, evicted and ruined
In the year in which South Africans mark the centenary of the iniquitous Natives’ Land Act, this poignant post, circulated to subscribers on Ben Khumalo-Seegelken’s mailing list,is a timely reminder of the traumatic impact of forced removals on individuals and their families.
Moshoeshoe’s legacy revived
Sebinane Lekoekoe comments on the celebrations that mark Moshoeshoe Day and shares information about this important king and other figures that have led the Basotho nation since his time.
Hidden voices: art and the erasure of memory in post-apartheid South Africa
Emile Maurice reports on a panel discussion focusing on the question, ‘What do we mean by ‘hidden voices’ in the arts after apartheid”. Convened by the Iziko South African National Gallery and the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, the discussion was sparked by the exhibition “Uncontained: Opening the Community Arts Archive”.
The Other Side of Silence
In a provocative article published by the Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS) Richard Pithouse argues that the memory of oppression and resistance is suppressed in our country and points to the consequences of this.
Archives, Memory and the Story of My Sister
Vusumuzi Khumalo uses the story of her sister’s teenage pregnancy to raise questions about archives. She concludes that insufficient attention has been paid - in the archives - to social problems.
Christmas greeting from Winnie to Mandela - personal information /public archives
Have your say! How do archivists reconcile research and privacy interests when it comes to the disclosure of personal information?
Eoan – Our Story
Lizabé Lambrechts reviews a recent publication on the history of the Eoan Group.
Hair: The Past is still with Us
Lucelle Campbell, reflects on the boom in the ‘black hair business’ and wonders what informs the choice of women who straighten their hair.
Mayhem and Manuscripts in Timbuktu the Mysterious
Graham Dominy provides some background on South Africa’s efforts to preserve the Timbuktu Manuscripts and offers some thoughts on a way for the international community to assist in protecting the manuscripts in the immediate future.
Archivists and the right to know:Challenges facing archivists in “Arab Spring” Tunisia
Graham Dominy reports on a symposium organised by Unesco and the National Archives of Tunisia to examine the role of the National Archives,archivists and records managers in the country during the time of transition.
We are Cannibals?: Stories, Narratives, Sites.
Jesmael Mataga responds to the December posts dealing with the issue of cannibals and shared his insights into the way in which the practuce of cannibalism is represented in oral narratives, missionary accounts and cannibal sites.
Misrepresented or not, it is our heritage, so open the doors!!!
Sebinane Lekoekoe raises some concerns about the archives of the Catholic Church in Lesotho.
“When an old man dies, a library burns down”
Ruth Abankwah responds to Mbongiseni Buthelezi’s article “Orality, recordkeeping and corruption: is good recordkeeping un-African”
From the art archive: Picasso in South Africa
Emile Maurice reflects of his ongoing interest fascination with the art of Picasso and shares some intriguing South African links.
