On Tuesday morning, January 11th, the ‘’Robben Island Crossroad of Cultures’’ program was officially kicked off. On the island 8 students from Leiden University and Cape Town University, under the direction of Dr. Robert Parthesius of CIE, met with the Robben Island Museum staff. In this meeting the participants were given a warm welcome by the “Public Program Manager” Mr. Luvuyo, “Heritage Communicator” Ms. Nomzamo and “Heritage Communicator” and ex-prisoner of Robben Island Mr. Vincent Diba. In the meeting, the Robben Island Museum staff introduced us to the challenges they face in managing the island’s heritage. Once all the participants were briefly introduced, it was time to get acquainted with the island: the staff gave the participants a tour around the island and introduced them to its history. Among others, visits were made to the place where Robert Sobukwe was held captive and the WW2 bunkers. At the end of the day, the birthday of South African participant Sophie Winton was celebrated, who reached the age of 25 years.
On Wednesday, the team was given a tour through the Maximum Security Prison by former prisoner Mr. Vincent Diba. In this visit, Mr. Diba explained the lives led by the political prisoners held captive at Robben Island. From his own experience, he explained the importance of “small things” in order keep up one’s hope. The team visited the cells in which Mr. Diba was held captive and also the cell in which the former President of South Africa, Mr. Nelson Mandela, was held for 18 years. During the visit, the team held a very interesting discussion concerning the conservation, presentation and passing on of the Robben Island message to future generations. The issue of passing on lessons from Robben Island once former prisoners are no longer alive was very openly discussed. Comparison was made to the Dutch communal memory of WW2 and the solutions found there. After lunch, Leiden University students Arnout van Rhijn and Thijs Coenen gave a short presentation on the cultural heritage management issues that have been raised by Icomos and UNESCO, after which a lively discussion took place.
12-01-2011 Laurens J. Jansen
PART II
At the end of last week we have divided the team into two groups; one group that will be focusing on the maritime heritage of the island, the other will be focusing on the heritage management on Robben Island.
The so called ‘heritage management group’ is working on a plan to make some practical contributions following the Robben Island Museum’s (RIM) Integrated Conservation Management Plan (ICMP). The RIM is focusing for the years 2007-2012 mainly on the political prisoners’ landscape. However, the island has a long and layered history, and connections can be made between the 17/18th century and 20th century prisoners, but also the natural aspects of the island are very important. For instance, Robben Island is an international important breeding ground for African Penguins as well as species of gulls, terns and cormorants. As described above, the island has a wealthy maritime heritage as well, and we try to cover all these aspects of the island in a proposal for a walking trail. This trail will hopefully contribute to the diversification of the visitor experience of the Island, one of the recommendations that ICOMOS and UNESCO have made.
The maritime group is focusing on 3 main categories of maritime heritage. This is collection information about: ships wrecked in the waters surrounding Robben Island, Maritime related structures on the Island and in the goods that where brought to and taken off the island. The Information is being collected from literary sources and is made accessible in a database. The waters around Robben Island are known for long time to be treacherous. Many ships got wrecked on or close by Robben Island. Between the island and the main land goods where exchanged like limestone that was used in the fortress of Cape Town. Also all kinds of plants and animals where brought in, to serve as food. Still today one can find structures related to these maritime exchanges.
Next to the work on the island, we enjoyed a day off on Sunday. We visited the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens in the morning, and after that some visited Groot Constantia estate for a wine tasting session, while others spent time in Houtbaai and the Victoria & Alfred waterfront in Cape Town.
Arnout van Rhijn & Laurens J. Jansen
