Invitation to the exhibition opening

You are invited to attend the opening of the exhibition: Community House: The Beginning

Tuesday 6 October

Storey Mazwembe Foyer

Community House

at 17h00

update on preparations for the exhibition

A pity the printer is running behind schedule or I would have posted some of the images from the exhibition on this site. I guess you'll have to wait and see at the exhibition.

The exhibition seeks to integrate into the space as part of the memorialisation activities that will gradually enrich the space as Community House becomes a (living) heritage site. It is situated in the Storey Mazwembe foyer, a space adjacent to the kitchen area where tenants and visitors tend to gather for lunch. It is a natural meeting space and is near the front of the building so it is well exposed compared to other areas of Community House. While access to the exhibition is not a challenge, I realise that along with taking the exhibition to the people, comes the challenge of security. How will I ensure that the artefacts and images remain on display for future visitors to the site?

There will be a participatory element to the exhibition: visitors will be invited to choose a word or phrase from the stencils on offer and spraypaint it on the pillars. The pillars have a grubby,used-wall appearance which is reminiscent of the outside walls used during the 1980s to spread revolutionary messages. These messages were often based on ideas that were spread through debate and analysis that took place in the meeting halls of Community House.

The technique of sticking posters to the walls with glue is also a reference to the years when activists met to prepare posters for street hanging and then took to the streets with glue buckets and posters in hand. Again, the posters emerged from the print masters at Community Arts Project, based at Community House. A bucket of mixed glue and a paint brush will also form part of the exhibition.

Introduction

This is a site specific photographic exhibition, drawing from the archives of an individual photographer, Rashid Lombard. The aim of the exhibition is to stimulate others to contribute to documenting the history of Community House. The exhibition is, thus, not a comprehensive documentation on the site. As the name suggests, it focuses on the early years of the existence of Community House.

“Against the backdrop of political repression of the 1970s and the emerging labour movements of the 1980s, Community House was fortified by the collective spirit of unions, NGO’s and civic organizations who contributed, and continue to contribute, to the forging of South Africa's democracy.

Community House represents the tenacity of the human spirit in the face of adversity. It opened its doors in 1987, playing a critical role in a defining period in South Africa's history, the militant spirit and action of the 1980s. As a site and

springboard for mass struggles, the history of Community House and the people commemorated here, illustrate the significant contribution of a dynamic cross-spectrum of labour and community organisations. Its tangible fabric, the

building itself, and its intangibles, the memories and associations that people have with the site and the symbolic values it holds for us represent the site's significance. “

Extract from Community House Conservation Management Plan

The photographs will be complemented by a small collection of artefacts that capture the memories that tenants as well as others associate with the site as well as some poster and graffiti text.

Both the images and the artefacts are deliberately not comprehensive in capturing the history of Community House. The idea is to stimulate the involvement of a broader range of tenants and ex tenants in the heritage project. Hopefully, the exhibition will kickstart a process through which others will contribute images, artefacts and stories for the heritage installation that will be created at the site.

It is hoped that through recalling a time when collective action led to the achievement of our political freedom, the exhibition will inspire ordinary citizens to embrace their responsibility as active citizens in our democracy – a consciousness that is slow in growing among South Africans. There is still a huge expectancy that “the Government” must solve all the social problems faced by society and too few ordinary people are inclined toward doing something for themselves or for the greater good. In mitigating the social ills that depress many South Africans today, it is critical that we recall the power of citizens and inspire a new wave of active citizenship