UP Archives thesis on counter-archives inspires UP Museum exhibition

UP Archives thesis on counter-archives inspires UP Museum exhibition
On 6 March the University of Pretoria Museums exhibition entitled ‘Bokgabo ba Mašela: Art of Textiles’ exhibition was officially opened.  The curator, Uthando Mabaso highlighted in his opening speech that the PhD thesis by Dr Ria van der Merwe, the newly appointed manager of the UP Archives served as his inspiration in planning the exhibition.  

Van der Merwe’s thesis entitled “Story cloths as a counter-archive:  The Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation Embroidery Project” proposes that community-based embroidered story cloths projects can serve to give black South African women a voice in the archival process.  Apart from economic empowerment, the aim of projects such as MCADF and Kaross in Limpopo Province, Mapula in the North West Province and Keiskamma in the Eastern Cape has been to encourage participants to discuss and to “write down” their stories through the means of embroidered story cloths.  The projects offer a means and a space for previously marginalised groups to be actively involved in the establishment of an archive to preserve their stories and memories on their own terms.  In addition, the story cloth projects provide a means to “locate the voices of the silenced native”(Manoff, M., Theories of the archive from across the discipline. Libraries and the Academy 4(1), 2004) women into the national memory and the archival discussion, thereby adding another perspective to the history of South Africa and possibly democratising the historical record.

Wonderful examples from these projects are included in the exhibition.  The MCADF story cloths offer a unique glimpse into the daily activities.  As the images are positioned within the social context, textile experts compare the cloths to newspaper headlines or comic strip posters as each cloth is a form of social and political pictorial commentary on contemporary popular culture. The craft artists’ keen sense of observation and attention to detail make these cloths valuable sources from which to glean such information.

The Keiskamma Guernica (2010) is a large-scale piece, of the same scale as Picasso’s original, and measures 3.5 metres high by 7.8 metres wide.  The Keiskamma Guernica depicts the lives and experiences of the people involved in its creation.  As stated on the Keiskamma website, the work is a “form of empowered creative practice developed through the transformation of these painful and traumatic experiences into a collective remaking of Picasso’s Guernica. This remaking simultaneously expresses grief, anger and hope.”

The KarossTM UP Centenary tapestry was commissioned on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the university in 2008.  This monumental work took almost a year to complete and measures 15 metres. The tapestry depicts all aspects of university life, from the differing architectural styles of the campus buildings, the beautiful grounds and the vibrant student life.

The exhibition can be viewed in the Bridge Gallery, Javett-UP until 18 October 2025.