Red Location Museum - where tears flow freely

By Brian Hayward

STANLEY Mzukisi stares for long periods at the photographic exhibition chronicling Nelson Mandela‘s fight for freedom, his eyes welling up with tears as he recalls his own personal struggle during apartheid when he was imprisoned after taking part in mass strike action.

“The exhibitions make me feel a bit sad, but to have a museum like this is very good. It reminds us of our history,” the New Brighton resident says. “It means so much to me. I‘m going to bring my grandchildren to see it because they have no idea what the struggle was all about.”

Mzukisi is one of only a trickle of people who have visited the internationally acclaimed museum since its opening two weeks ago, leading museum officials to call on whites in particular to allay their safety concerns and visit the museum to “judge for themselves”.

“Everyone should make a concerted effort to come here and see it (the museum). Then they can make up their own minds. It‘s really very safe here and the community are proud of the museum.”

These were the words of Red Location marketing officer Annette du Plessis, who has herself lived in New Brighton since the height of the uprising against the apartheid regime in 1989.

Although “well over 50” community members and schoolchildren have flocked through the museum doors daily since it officially opened on Friday, November 10, only about 25 paying guests have entered daily since then, said Du Plessis.

Of the visitors sampled by Weekend Post all were vocal in their pride of the museum although teething problems such as a lack of “greenery” outside the museum, inadequate road signage to the museum, availability of museum guides and a concerted effort in marketing the museum to locals by tourism officials needed to be addressed.

Visiting the museum on Wednesday this week to view a live toyi-toyi performed by community members in the Struggle and Memory Exhibition, Weekend Post found the museum somewhat deserted at first, though members of the community began entering en masse from 12.30pm when the entrance fee fell away for pensioners and unemployed community members.

The unannounced arrival of the Independent Electoral Commission‘s chairman, Dr Brigalia Bam, and deputy chairman, Thoko Mpumlwana, for a brief tour during their short visit to the city from Pretoria was a pleasant surprise for museum staff. Both grew up in Transkei.

“This museum is important not only for preserving the memories of the struggle for us, but also in preserving history for generations to come,” said Bam. “This is an amazing piece of work and although it makes one sad to see the lives lost during the struggle, (the museum) has been done so professionally and is an asset to the whole country.”

Mpumlwana, who herself lived in Uitenhage from 1989 to 1993, recalled the upheaval she experienced during that time. “The reality of the events was more profound for me, but here we have snippets of reality and one realises how freedom itself was a big achievement,” she said. Although its displays were not as graphic as holocaust museums she had attended in Israel, Mpumlwana praised the museum for being “not too depressing”. “It still brings through the reality of the events. The architecture is not showy and there is good use of materials, but there need to be more exhibitions added,” she said. Walmer resident and a post-graduate Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan University photography student Sandy Coffey said there was a lack of adequate road signage towards the museum from the city.

“It‘s completely safe there,” she said. “The museum is an extension of the country‘s past which we as white people need to be exposed to.”

Fellow Walmer resident and director of the Wilderness Foundation, Andrew Muir, was impressed with the lay-out of the museum, saying it was on a par with other top museums he had visited in London, Russia, Norway and India. But more “greening up” outside the museum was needed for visitors, he said.

“I enjoyed that it wasn‘t Eurocentric and didn‘t follow any specific path. I was allowed to find my own way around,” he said.

With a strong sense of pride not only from the museum staff, but also the community members, Muir suggested the museum make better use of electronic listening guides – prerecorded devices detailing the various exhibitions – and staff members to show foreign visitors around and explain the significance of the exhibitions to them.

Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism spokesman Phumeza Mgzashe said no marketing of the museum was taking place aside from the word-of-mouth information at tourism branches and in brochures detailing museums in the city. Some tour operators were now including the museum in their tours of the city, she said.

bhayward@johnnicec.co.za

News