Context (CMS Context)
This object was collected by Julia Tanner while undertaking fieldwork in South Africa from March-May 2000. The fieldwork was financed by UCMAA's Crowther-Beynon Fund, in order to research and update UCMAA's South African collections.
This print was purchased on 30 March 2000 from the District Six Museum in Cape Town. The museum is a memorial to the borough of District Six (in Cape Town), whose residents were forcibly removed before it was razed to the ground in 1966 under the National Party's Group Areas Act. This piece of apartheid legislation divided white and black communities into separate residential areas, redefining District Six as a whites-only area. The demolition process continued until 1980, dividing neighbours and forcing residents into townships. The area still remains largely undeveloped and is now referred to as Zonnebloem. The residents, history and atmosphere of District Six are represented in the museum by photographs, objects recovered from the bulldozed site, a floor map, salvaged street signs and a large cloth on which ex-residents have written names and messages. Nostalgically portrayed is the heartache and trauma of the removals, as well as the vibrant multi-cultural community which was famous for its jazz, poetry and racial harmony. The District Six Museum has become a highly potent symbol of resistance to racism, community spirit and regeneration. It's educational, moral and political value is recognised by its popularity with tourist tours and school programmes. Former resident, Herzl Marks, has declared, 'True, it was a slum and there was a grinding poverty everywhere, but it had a community spirit and joie de vivre, a special vitality and exuberance, possessing a racial harmony which made Cape Town an oasis of reason and goodwill in the madness of apartheid”. A process of restitution has now began, operating out of the District Six Museum, to handle property claims by ex-residents, to build new housing and to welcome people back. However, it is commonly appreciated that the atmosphere of the original district is lost forever.
The artist, Roderick Sauls, was born in Distict Six and currently works at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. In 'Memories of District Six', The Last Days of District Six (Cape Town: District Six Museum, 1996:24), Roderick Sauls recounts his attachment to the neighbourhood: 'I was born at 19 St Phillips Street in District Six in 1954. I grew up in District Six, more towards the Woodstock side. I remember the people and the amazing atmosphere. I went to St Phillips Primary School. As a child of seven we were forced to move out when Eastern Boulevard was built. At the age of seven I was losing my friends who suddenly disappeared in the night. You would go to school one morning and find your friends no longer there. We used to play Bikkies and Hide and Seek in the alleyways. My parents never told me not to go there. My parents weren't scared. No one was scared. There were people who were good and bad. People would fight in the road and we would stand and watch. After five minutes they would leave or the shopkeepers would chase them away, but they would not feel threatened. I made a book Down Hanover Street because I wanted to show what the people did. I do small pictures, usually a series. My mother told me amazing stories. I understood the history of the place. It was my personal mythology. It is my personal story. To me the human factor of District Six is very important. I like to put it in my work. People say I'm too emotional about District Six, that I'm too sentimental. But I'm not talking about what I read. I'm talking about my own experience. I feel the pain. I'm not talking about something I read about. It happened to me. If a Muslim was a neighbour of a Christian person, they became close. The relationships are not here anymore. All the religions were there. They all shared something. I don't think that spirit will ever come back. Now it's not the same. People ask me if I want to go back, but they cannot imagine what it was like. It was so different. We used to go window shopping in Hanover Street. It was amazing what happened in that street. My parents never told me not to go there. I used to wear my pyjamas, gown and slippers and walk down Hanover Street. There must have been danger, but everyone knew one another. There was this harmony. We went to live in Bonteheuwel I don't think that we ever got used to it. Our window shopping days were over. Every Xmas we would put down new lino in our kitchen. BANKS was the shop. The lino would stand outside. It was my favourite shop in Hanover street. I was happy to buy the lino. I can still see it and how it was cut on the pavement. When I was a child, four or five years old, I was part of a Xmas band. People went to watch the bands on New Year's Day from five in the morning and wait until eight when the bands came. People enjoyed it. For me as a child it was fascinating. The harmony of it. I belonged to the St. Marks Xmas Band. We would walk the whole day. At night they had to carry me home. People got so excited. It was like a festival. I don't think Cape Town has ever had a festival like that”.

For further information about the District Six Museum see its web site at:
www.districtsix.co.za

The Group Areas Act was used to forcibly remove and separate many communities throughout South Africa. When Simon's Town, near Cape Town, was wrenched apart, outraged citizens, both black and white, appealed for help to save their community which had existed in harmony for generations. During the period of research (March-May 2000) Simon's Town Museum had a exhibition dedicated to this part of it's history. It has also established Project Phoenix in order to collect, record and preserve information relating to the town's multi-cultural history prior to forced removals. The project leaflet illustrates this mixed heritage and the desire to commemorate it: '...At first the tiny settlement was known as Simonsvlek. The residents were DUTCH officials, soldiers, traders and farmers, slaves from ASIA and AFRICA, the indigenous KHOISAN people and SCANDINAVIANS, FRENCH, GERMANS etc...With the Royal Navy came WEST AFRICAN sailers called KROOMEN. Many of them married Simon's Town women and settled in the town. Muslim sailors from EAST AFRICA, known as SEEDIES, came to Simon's Town with the Royal Navy. Most SEEDIES returned to East Africa, but some married local women. During the 1800's and early 1900's islanders from TRISTAN DA CUNHA and ST HELENA came to live in Simon's Town. AFRICAN people from the EASTERN CAPE arrived in the town at the end of the 1800's...Centuries of intermarriage and socialinteraction in Simon's Town created a very mixed community...The FORCED REMOVALS under the Group Areas Act of 1967 destroyed the multi-cultural fabric of Simon's Town society...The Simon's Town Museum appeals to YOU, the DESCENDANTS OF SIMON'S TOWN FAMILIES, to help us to collect the exhibit the REAL HISTORY of YOUR ANCESTORS and the very special community of Simon's Town, before the Forced Removals. Speak to your parents, relatives and friends and help the Museum TO SAVE YOUR HERITAGE in Simon's Town!'”. (See this leaflet in UCMAA's archives).

Event Date 5/5/2012
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Lino-cut by Roderick Sauls entitled 'Atapils and Ywe'. The black and white picture depicts a street scene in the now destroyed borough of District Six, Cape Town. On the left-hand side of the street is a parked truck laden with boxes of goods, beside which stands a male figure. Cars are parked in front of a block of buildings on the right-hand side of the street. The image of a young boy appears in the right foreground and a group of four figures are shown on the left. The picture is signed on the bottom right in pencil with: 'Roderick K. Sauls '98'. On the bottom left is written: 'Atapils and Ywe. District Six Museum'.
Event Date 5/5/2012
Author: maa