Sharing Stories on Contested Histories 2023 - The Cape Town edition

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This edition of Sharing Stories on Contested Histories was a very special one to me. The Cultural Heritage Agency's programme is a full cooperation with the Reinwardt Academy and was offered for the 5th time this year. Hereunder, just an impression of this rich and full-fledged programme...

As such, 24 young heritage professionals, 4 coaches and 2 programme leaders from all over the world united in a hybrid programme: first a series of weeks with online meetings and then a more than full week live in Cape Town, South Africa.?

Focus point of this programme was again to provide a series of encounters around complicated, contested and often painful heritage. Encounters richly nurtured from different historical, cultural and professional perspectives.

Encounters that - again, as it turned out - created lasting bonds and thus a lovely new network of very bright and engaged young heritage professionals from Australia, Belgium, Bonaire, Brazil, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Spain, Ukraine, the United States and South Africa.?

Subject of the physical working week was the knock-on effects of colonialism in South Africa, specifically Cape Town, with its slavery past and (post)Apartheid as its most acute components.

Indispensable collaboration partner was the District Six Museum's

team Mandy Sanger, Tina Smith and Chrischené Julius whose impressive museum and activist Homecoming Centre recounts the apartheid regime that under the Groups Area Act forcibly displaced over 60,000 residents. The then white minority regime bulldozed the traditionally diverse and mixed neighbourhood, wishing to annex this area adjacent to the business district for white South Africans.

There were city walks, workshops, museum visits and guest lectures, amongst others: a positively-provocative city centre walking tour, the Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum

, Robben Island

, The Slave Lodge, The Castle of Good Hope,

The Iziko National Gallery and guest lectures by professor Leslie Witz on the current South African Museum landscape and shifts that can be made; artist, life-storyteller and former political prisoner at Robben Island Lionel Davis

and Greer Valley on the perception recent Dutch museum exhibitions gave on coloniality and South Africa.

The full and long days programme gave rise to deep working together, reflective and often emotional conversations and also lots of bonding in the - what we came to call our - 'circle of trust'.

To me, one of the intellectual results of Sharing Stories on Contested Histories the 2023 edition is, once again, that when dealing with coloniality that we must face that the past is now and in the present.

As a strong emotional outcome I would like to conclude that with this lot of dedicated and super smart young heritage professionals one can only be hopeful to keep on working and walking the uphill struggle to make this world a better place....

?#LoveWorkingAtTheReinwardtAcademy

Many thanks for adding your invaluable energies to this programme: Arjen Kok , Anne Maamke Boonstra , Jorne Vriens , Karlijn Bruggeman , Sofia Lovegrove , Jessica Glendinning , Bonnie Triyana , Jos van Beurden , Yvonne van Genugten , Margaret Leidelmeijer , Myrthe Kroes , Lisa Kleeven , Diana Poepcke and all the participants: Jorien, Victoria, Kaat, Morgana, Isabel, Mita, Farilyann, Margyene, Baklakoana, Lisa, Mishkah, Phumzile, Precious, Tamsanqa, Zenande, Alejandra, Akila, Disna, Shanika, Liana, Dariia, Sydney, Susannah and Chrislyn