Living in SA
Monday 13 October 2008
In the past month, I've come into contact with two heritage sites which have been created in post-Apartheid South Africa. First, I attended a talk at Pretoria University on Maropeng, which was constructed as a gateway to the Cradle of Humankind and Sterkfontein caves (a world heritage site). I visited Maropeng shortly after it opened (December 2005), but until this month, have never visited Freedom Park. I fixed this a couple of weeks ago when I spent an enjoyable morning exploring this new bit of South African heritage (opened late 2007 for the first time) with two friends, one from Germany and one from Ghana.
We so desperately need places that celebrate the rich diversity and complexity of South Africa's past and culture. Although Pretoria has many museums and historic buildings, most of them are linked to a particular culture or person, and visitors to them are passive spectators. Both Maropeng and Freedom Park move away from this, and make visits into something more of an interactive experience (see next two posts) which for me brought up all sorts of questions about heritage and the links between past and future.
Maropeng
With both sites the interaction between the natural landscape and the constructions on it are striking and aesthetically pleasing; the interaction in itself making a subtle statement. At Maropeng you become very aware that you are part of an ancient landscape; and the juxtaposition of the swirling organic design of Freedom Park with the rigid lines of the Voortrekker Monument are a striking contrast of which you are aware throughout your visit.
Freedom Park
I could not help feeling a slight sense of disappointment at both sites though that there was something lacking, but that is possibly just my repeated exposure to a more traditional museum experiences; at Maropeng I wanted to see the actual Mrs Ples (or something similar) and at Freedom Park visit a real, rather than symbolic grave. Freedom Park is not yet complete, it is a work in progress, and my feeling of hollowness may disappear once the museum planned for the premises is finished, and once its amphitheatre is used regularly for gatherings; my only visit to Maropeng was also before the boutique hotel there was finished. Part of the attraction of both sites is that not only are they are heritage sites, both are also public venues; and as such need to be visited when they are fully functional. More detail on each site in the next 2 posts.
We so desperately need places that celebrate the rich diversity and complexity of South Africa's past and culture. Although Pretoria has many museums and historic buildings, most of them are linked to a particular culture or person, and visitors to them are passive spectators. Both Maropeng and Freedom Park move away from this, and make visits into something more of an interactive experience (see next two posts) which for me brought up all sorts of questions about heritage and the links between past and future.
Maropeng
With both sites the interaction between the natural landscape and the constructions on it are striking and aesthetically pleasing; the interaction in itself making a subtle statement. At Maropeng you become very aware that you are part of an ancient landscape; and the juxtaposition of the swirling organic design of Freedom Park with the rigid lines of the Voortrekker Monument are a striking contrast of which you are aware throughout your visit.Freedom Park
I could not help feeling a slight sense of disappointment at both sites though that there was something lacking, but that is possibly just my repeated exposure to a more traditional museum experiences; at Maropeng I wanted to see the actual Mrs Ples (or something similar) and at Freedom Park visit a real, rather than symbolic grave. Freedom Park is not yet complete, it is a work in progress, and my feeling of hollowness may disappear once the museum planned for the premises is finished, and once its amphitheatre is used regularly for gatherings; my only visit to Maropeng was also before the boutique hotel there was finished. Part of the attraction of both sites is that not only are they are heritage sites, both are also public venues; and as such need to be visited when they are fully functional. More detail on each site in the next 2 posts.Labels: Freedom Park, heritage, Maropeng, South Afric
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