1.3 THE KHOISAN - a brief history of dispossession, subjugation and reclamation

1.3.3 Public 'misrepresentation' of the KhoiSan image

As slavery was the determinant of relations between black and white people , it can be argued that Victorian era exhibition shows of African peoples “hauled back (with) specimens of exotic plants, animals…. by the trunk-, boat- and caravan-load” determined present-day world racial prejudices and stereotypes with regard to race relations. These exhibition shows, or “human zoos” as Blanchard, Bancel and Lemaire call them, had the resultant effect that was not limited to the colonial social imagination, but they sustained a visual mindset (one author terms it 'the politics of vision') with regards to the imagery, public depiction or “public misrepresentation” of the “savage other”.

For some critical authors, these public exhibitions of 'the other' and all that is naturally exotic, became the precedents for museums, as “the museum is a product in a post-colonial era …. (associated) with politics of domination, especially with regard to questions of how the West exhibits non-Western cultures.” This historical background and critical viewpoint with regard to museums and exhibition are not only cautionary, but become significant with regard to the design of the envisaged Sarah Bartmann Centre of Remembrance, which has as its intention the reclamation of the identity and dignity of the KhoiSan peoples. The Centre, in its quest to reclaim and redefine must take care not to be accomplice to, nor perpetuate this historical objectification of human culture in its exhibitions or displays.

It can be argued that Pippa Skotnes' 1996 exhibition entitled Miscast: Negotiating KhoiSan History and Material Culture becomes a defining and important reference point when addressing the issue of KhoiSan imagery and public representation. Another exhibition which generated a lot of academic interest and debate was called Into the Heart of Africa, shown at the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada in 1989 and 1990. Both were referred to by Shelly Ruth Butler as “controversial and reflexive exhibitions” . These may be seen as important reference points for the conceptualization of the Sarah Bartmann Centre of Remembrance.

The Miscast exhibition generated notable critical reviews and debates in South Africa and internationally. It sharply brought to the fore challenging issues around 'cultural intermediaries', 'identity politics in multi-cultural political societies’, 'politics of vision', 'iconography', 'objectification', 'spirituality', 'dioramas', 'classification of indigenous cultures as part of natural history' , to mention a few.

These debates on the moral and ethical aspects surrounding the public presentation and imagery of indigenous peoples may provide a conceptual framework for the Centre, as it will be a place of national importance.

In conclusion, it is fitting to draw from Lane's observation and seminal remarks on the Miscast exhibition, which, it can be argued, began the process of benchmarking exhibitions of this nature. It is hoped that ample lessons can be learnt from this. He writes:

“The inclusion (by Skotnes) of objects from diverse sources, texts and artworks, along with the transparently subjective presence of the curator are all critical components of the new model of contemporary post-colonial museum practice that is needed in the new South Africa…. as with any exhibition, there are thus a number of layers of meaning to Miscast that relate only in part to the objects and images exhibited and the contexts of their production. The manner of exhibition, the choice of institutional framework, the strategies and objectives of the curator, the multiple histories and perspectives of different audiences and the contemporary socio-political setting also all inform and contribute to the totality of the exhibition experience.”