Robben Island Visit

M

Mr Apartheid Puppet

I've been meaning the blog about the places we've visited when we haven't been working but truth be told, the whole flight cancellation thing has left me a little flat. Over the last 4 days we've been working the phones and surfing online with regards to alternate means to get back to London but this Icelandic ash business seems to only be worsening. Anyway, I decided that I should make it a point to record the amazing experiences we have encountered - the township of Guguletu (meaning 'Our Pride'), the gardens at Kirstenboch, the views around Chapman's Peak and Noordhoek, as well as of course the famous landmark Table Mountain. But these experiences really deserve their own blog entry so I shall take my time...

I thought it befitting to start with Robben Island; the first 'touristy' place we visited on one of our days off. This is of course where political prisoners were kept. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years here. To get to the island, you have to buy tickets in advance at the Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront. The centre also doubles as a museum. There is a message on one of the walls, which begins... "While we will not forget the brutality of apartheid..." (see picture below). Very inspiring, no?

Display panels at the museum

The queue for the ferry begins to grow, half hour before departure

Shivaun and Maggie get ready to board

A tourist shop on Robben Island, the lettering above the display racks echo the theme of the site

The entrance reads: "We serve with pride." 

...I wonder if this is for the benefit of the guards or the prisoners? I wonder whether the deception is akin to that of the 'Arbeit Macht Freit' (Work will set you free) signs posted above ghetto gates by the Nazis?

It's all very rush rush. We are hustled on to buses lined up in rows with optimistic mottos on them, such as this one below. Another reads "We are on this journey together." Lots of double entendre here.

Above: This is the entrance to the main prison block.

The bus takes us around the island, but we are not allowed off. The guide talks almost non-stop. I wish they would let us off the bus. And I wished the guide would stop talking. It's hard to immerse yourself or attempt to feel or read what this place speaks of when all one can hear is the roar of the bus and the constant narrative - which most of the time is peppered with irreverent humour - it's all strangely incongruous within this setting.

Finally, we reach the main prison buildings. They let us off and we are handed over to another guide. He tells us he was imprisoned here. He asks us to follow him and we do, from one cell to another, one corridor leading into the next, one courtyard opening into another, and he gives us a 10 minute talk in a large cell. He rushes and checks the time, another group is due to arrive after us. So he makes his way to a gate, opens it, and we re-emerge where we began. He walks briskly away - probably to get ready for the next busload of curious tourists. 

Ashes, Ashes and We All Got Stuck!

A different start for a change today. We decided to walk to the Cape Town Holocaust Centre (CTHC) and get some breakfast along the way. One unusual thing we noticed was that when we passed two FNB branches, we saw queues stretching round the corner. Maggie, ever the curious one, asked one of those queuing what she was there for. We found out that they were buying FIFA World Cup tickets. You have to be a real fan I think to endure these queues :)

It's been another productive and amazing day. Today we returned to the CTHC as Shivaun was conducting a session for students from the University of Stellenboch on oral testimony and how to go beyond that towards adopting a multidimensional approach. The questions we received were engaging and stimulating, and there was a really cool sense of collaboration and mutual exhange.



After that, we met up with Razia from the Peace Ambassador Project and her young ambassadors aged between 13-14. They had a tour of the exhibition and we discussed the various installations, and a range of things - from the use of symbolic metaphors in art to the activities of the Einsatzgruppen!




Sharing their art work with us

This is an amazing group of young people who have taken it upon themselves to promote the 8 Millennium Development Goals. They aim to do so through art and performance and a host of other activities. Already they have gone on a road trip entitled 'Dialogue for Mutual Understanding' where they engaged their peers to address issues of education, health care, culture, environment and violence. If you would like to have these young ambassadors at your event, contact them here.

Everyone say "peeeeace!"

Whoa, I feel sooooo short compared to most of these kids!


But alas.... the high we were on did not last, when Shivaun received a text that our flight tomorrow was cancelled on account of the Icelandic volcanic ash and Heathrow being shut down. So we spent the closing of the day frantically trying to get a seat on a later flight before heading out for a late dinner. But all our efforts were to no avail, so we will have to try again tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed. We are loving Cape Town, but I think it's time to go home.

Cape Town Holocaust Centre Photos

An amazing array of photos captured by Amanda Cooper from the Cape Town Holocaust Centre of the teachers workshop and opening launch of the exhibition. Enjoy!

A Briefing at CTHC and Shivaun Is Interviewed, 13 April 2010

Shivaun interviewed by writer Claudia Braude

Yikes, we turned up 15 minutes late for a briefing at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre (CTHC) 'cos we got our schedules mixed up. We were supposed to be there for 2pm but thought it was 2.30pm. Sorry to the many volunteers and CTHC staff who took the time to be there. And also a big thank you, especially to the volunteers, who will be giving their time to guide visitors through the exhibition for the duration of the exhibition (until 29 April). In a way, I feel as if we have passed the baton on to these volunteers and staff members; it is now their turn to share and spread these stories.


Above: An overview of the exhibition space and the various elements

It was a fantastic in-depth session and we were asked great questions - did the artists get to meet the survivors? How many times were they interviewed? and so on. We told them about the artists - Dwora Fried, Katie Dell Kaufman, Lynsey Cleaver, Mike Moran, Birgit Muller - their background, how they approached the stories, their interpretations, and our vision. We also told them about what it was like working with Ruta Puisyte, Fania Brantsovsky, and Dovid Katz at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute, Chasia Spaneflig at the Community Centre, the narrators - Dora Pilianskiene, Berl Glazer, Gita Geseleva, Isroel (Izidor) Galperin, Cholem Sapsai, Rachel Kostanian, Margarita Civuncik, Josef Levinson...

After the briefing, we went for a drink at Mount Nelson as Shivaun was interviewed by Claudia Braude. It was another lovely Capetonian day.

Live music at Mount Nelson

Opening Launch, Cape Town, 12 April 2010

What a night it was! We received a lot of positive feedback and Shivaun was swamped after the official program was over by people wanting to express what the exhibition had given them or their impressions of it. As a picture speaks a thousand words, I will leave the talking to the video below.

Some highlights:

• Selected clip of speech by Richard Freedman, the director of Cape Town Holocaust Centre, which encapsulates succinctly what the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition is about.
• Selected clip from Shivaun Woolfson's speech - her touching tribute to the memory of her late father, one of the personal motivations behind this project and exhibition.
• A touching moment - a visitor at the Shoah Memorial installation painstakingly searches for the names of particular massacre sites/shtetls on the side of the bottles and finding the ones she is looking for, again painstakingly searches for their location on the map before placing it there
• A rousing performance of "Vilna" by several members of the Herzlia youth vocal ensemble (I heard Polina Shepherd sing this, once at Spiro Ark in London and when we opened this exhibition at Vilnius last year. Every now and then it still chokes me up, eventhough I don't know why.)
• And selected scenes of the 150 or so who turned up to experience the art installations and/or pay homage to their Litvak roots.

Yom Hashoah V'Hagevurah (Holocaust and Heroism Day) 11 April 2010

It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride over the last few days so I thought I had better hunker down and get up to speed with the blog entries. There was a window of opportunity this morning as we are due to drop into the Cape Town Holocaust Centre only this afternoon for a briefing with the volunteers who will show visitors around the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition until the 29 April, before it moves to Johannesburg and finally to Durban.

But I thought I would jot down a few notes about the events over the weekend. Shivaun attended the Yom Hashoah memorial service at Pinelands Jewish Cemetery on Sunday, 11 April. I did not attend so unfortunately we don't have any images to post. But she came back overawed and enthused and said it was truly amazing, that there was pomp, ceremony and a sombre ritual laying of wreaths, people in military attire, and heartrending testimonies. So she said Maggie and I had to come and join her that evening for an informal dinner at the Sephardic Jewish Shul. One main objective of that dinner was to remember the Rhodes survivors who had made it to South Africa and to honour them.

What was amazing to me once again, and for anyone who has followed this blog since the early days in 2008 when we embarked on this project will know, is the Jewish propensity for commemoration, intergenerational transmission of memory, and the reverence paid to such memories. As you will see in the images below, there is a display wall sponsored by a member of the congregation that remembers these survivors and provides a bit of a history lesson to its congregation. How wonderful to have such public commemoration, so that "we shall never forget" the lessons of the Holocaust.



The cantor and rabbi performs for the diners


Survivors Ella Blumenthal and friend celebrate

No Antelope at Sidewalk in Bell Air

Yesterday, after we'd finished at the centre, Richard took us to a cafe off the tourist beaten track called Sidewalk Cafe. It was on Bell Air Road. And no this is not a typo. He used the word 'quirky' to describe it. Very nice, exuding boho chic by the buckets. And really super friendly people. Actually come to think of it, everyone we've met so far has been really terrific and amazing.

Nestled within a valley and overlooked by Table Mountain range, the food was yummy, yummy, yummy! But no, no springbok, no antelope. (Confused? See blog entry)  And the sun came out as well eventually, which was great :) 

See the sign? B-e-l-l Air, not Bel Air :) [Click to see larger image]

I like this split door which reminds me of a farm house.

Corrugated sheets, copper pans, decor made from stones painted pink. And a copy of the New Yorker in the magazine rack. Is this boho or what?

Maggie scans the menu... no, no, no... no springbok...

Day 2 of Set Up at Cape Town Holocaust Centre

Slept like a baby and woke up late - at 9am! Eeek! Quick brekky and out the door. Not great weather today though. It was drizzly and wet, as you can see. Our friend Maggie arrived from the States last night, so she came to help as well. Thanks Maggie!

The centre is home to the Jewish Museum and also the first synagogue in Cape Town, as well as the Albow Centre, where our exhibition will be held.

The posters for the exhibition were up outside the door at the Albow Centre.

As the opening launch on Monday will happen in the hall where the exhibition will be, chairs for 120 people were set up too.

 Here's Shivaun arranging chairs for the opening launch...

Here's Maggie having a chat with the director of the centre, Richard.

This pix - Maggie, Zo, Richard and Shivaun

 Moi taking Maggie's place in this shot

With Vernon the electrician.

Maggie was set loose with the Flip Video and she went around interviewing people :) The team at the centre was great to us, supplying tea and coffee and biscuits for break time, helping us load and move stuff about, what can I say, just great! Many many thanks for your assistance and hospitality.

Below is a short clip of the day's happenings...

'Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna' South Africa - Day 1

Arrived at 8.30am this morning into Cape Town.It's now 11.22pm. Quite discombobulated still. Between the both of us, Shivaun and I, we hardly managed forty winks on the 11-and-half hour flight. About 1, Richard Freedman from the Cape Town Holocaust Centre swung by to give us a lift to the centre. Really awesome campus; too bad I didn't carry the camera today, so will take some photos only tomorrow. We spent about 3 hours doing set up today.



Was too knackered by the end of the day to do anything but soak in the bath as soon as we got back to the hotel. Then we went downstairs for some grub. Noticed springbok showed up a few times on the restaurant menu. Hope to try it before I leave. Shiv asked me what a springbok was, I didn't know how to describe it except say it was kinda like a deer and does these leaps as it runs and as I was simulating these movements with my hands, she said, 'isn't that a kangaroo?' Glad the waiter cleared it up and told her it was an antelope. Ah... antelope. Anyways, am too tired to write much. We will go back to the centre tomorrow to administer the finishing touches and get the lights on. Oh and yes, one other observation from  Day 1. We asked some people who work at the hotel as well as Richard whether it was true that it's not safe to go out at night and walkabout. The verdict is no. Apparently a few places are okay but not to walk to those places, to cab it there, and stay on the main road and not divert to adjacent lanes. After dinner as I was walking towards the lobby, the management trainee who had served us during dinner intercepted me and cautioned, 'you're not going for a walk are you?' She looked relieved when I assured her I wasn't. Hmm. Looks like we should try and squeeze in some sightseeing during the day. What a pity to not be able to explore or see the city at night. Okay. Am babbling senselessly now. Good night.