CHAPTER 5. CONTESTED PLACE AND CONTESTED MUSEUMS
5.1 Museums in the urban landscape
9), with how the individual perceives the self and the other especially visible in social change.
I argue that it is essential for Transformation how ‘cultural groups’ act differently in connection with the museum as a place located in the urban landscape. Cosgrove (1985) and Cosgrove and Daniels (1988: 1) hold that there are many ways of seeing the landscape since there is a relationship between a symbolic landscape and social formations that can be read through architecture. Spencer (2000: 535) holds that symbols are systems of meaning that can be decoded or interpreted. Sacks (1986: 2) argues that landscape is socially constructed and is connected to how people use the land. Sacks´ argument becomes explicit when investigating the racial zoning of Pietermaritzburg during the colonial and apartheid eras and how that contributed to the different meaning associated with the museums. I argue that there is a reciprocal relationship between peoples´ perception and the praxis of urban landscape in relation to museums.
The museum´s location in the urban landscape is essential for investigating Transformation.
In 1838 Pietermaritzburg was established by Whites, and its museums were incorporated into the urban landscape in 1904 and 1912. Following Hill (2005: 20), I claim that the museums could be considered a way in which the (White) urban population improved the urban society.
The Natal Museum was erected in Loop Street.59 The Msunduzi Museum (VM) was errected at the corner of Church Street and Voortrekker Street, but it now consists of a large area with several buildings between Church Street and Langalibalele Street and has incorporated Voortrekker Street into its premises.60
British imperial forces annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia shortly after Pietermaritzburg was founded and became a colonial town (Haswell 1988: 24-27, Willis 1988: 33, 1994: 283- 310). White residents established themselves in the town and the African workers ‘found’
housing on the outskirts of the city (Willis 1988: 35). The Hindu Indians settled in the town in the 1860s. By the 1890s the lower part of Church Street and Longmarket Street61 had become an Indian-dominated area and by the 1880s the upper end of Church Street had become a Muslim Indian area. From 1905 the town developed into segregated and mixed areas outside the town centre where enclaves of Indian, White and Coloured families settled (Willis 1988:
35, 40, 1994: 283-310). Already at an early stage in Pietermartizburg´s history, drawing on
59 Now Jabu Ndlovu Street.
60 See Appendix: Genealogy of the Msunduzi Museum Incorporating the Voortrekker Complex.
61 Now Langalibalele Street.
Hall (2003: 32), it is possible to recognise that there were multiple meanings given to the urban landscape by different groups.
Multiple meanings are essential for the understanding of Transformation. During the colonial and Victorian period the museums were established in areas that were racially mixed. The urban landscape, however, became increasingly segregated during apartheid. The urban landscape and its mental and physical racial borders were not as closed a system as they seemed to be, but an intricate matter of memory, associations and socio-political structures lived and upheld by all groups of society. An example of changing associations is the Natal Museum, which according to Stuckenberg (1988: 160), had always been open to all races. Yet the African presence awoke comments. Both Brooks (2005: 18-19) and Stuckenberg (1988:
160) point out that there were objections to banning Africans from the museum, but they disagree on who made the objection.62 Brooks (2005: 18-19) states that in a letter director Ernest Warren63 ordered that an African attendant should ensure that Africans did not crowd around display cases, which might cause inconvenience. Brooks´ observation implies at least two things: Africans attended the museum and were interested in it. I claim, relying on the Natal Museum Annual Reports, that the museum was not exclusively a White place. Africans worked there and both Indians and Africans visited frequently. Coloureds are not mentioned in the early Annual Reports, and little is known about their relation to the museum. Yet the museum was primarily established for and used by Whites. Africans, Coloureds and Indians did not have ownership of it but were not excluded as visitors.
Willis (1988: 40-41) contends that the social distance between racial groups was a result of physical racial segregation. Africans were temporary ‘visitors’ in the White city and the Native (Urban Areas) Act 1923 and its 1937 amendment situated African residential areas at a distance from the city.64 This meant that the museums operated in a White urban landscape.
Between 1910-1946 a strong anti-Asiatic aggregation in (KwaZulu) Natal resulted in voluntary segregation. The Restriction Act 1943 demarcated areas occupied by Indians. This act was followed in 1946 by the Asiatic Land Tenure and Representation Act 1946 which placed absolute limits on territory occupied by Indians and resulted in hostility between
62 Stuckenberg (1988: 160) suggested that it was the Board of Trustees who objected to the banning, whereas Brooks (2005: 18-19) suggested that it was the Board of Trustees who proposed the banning but that this was rejected by Director Ernest Warren.
63 Director in the Natal Museum 1904-1931.
64 Africans were granted own areas in, e.g., Sobantu village.
Whites and Indians (Willis 1988: 38-41). As Africans, Indians and Coloureds were seen as temporary visitors in the town they were also regarded as temporary visitors in the museums.
This racial segregation determined the relationship to the museums and the urban landscape.
Willis (1988: 38-39) holds that racial segregation existed largely in all towns in South Africa at the time when the NP won the election in 1948.
The urban landscape in which the museums existed was at this point a lived experience filled with cultural meanings and symbols of segregation. The museums became increasingly associated with Whites, since the museum came to exist in a racially divided and segregated urban landscape. Willis (1988: 40-41) holds that after the Group Areas Act 1950 cities were divided into racially exclusive zones, which in turn were separated by buffer zones. Webb (1994: 20) holds that as the act was implemented museums ignored the fact that ‘black people’ existed in towns. Dodgshon (1987: 67) and Robertson and Richards (2003: 4) suggest that the relation of different groups to power and control established exclusive rights of access and use; this reproduction of power contributes to the meaning given to place and the urban landscape. Pred (1984: 280, 291-292, 1986: 19-22) and Harvey (1996: 316) argue similarly that the placement of practice, social structure and power ‘become’ each other. The conflicting meanings were part of how the urban landscape was regarded and were connected to the issue of democratic rights and belonging.
By law Pietermaritzburg continued to be a segregated town until the late 1980s when the Pass Law 195265 and later the Group Areas Act 195066 were repealed, but the urban landscape remained divided along racial lines. During the 1980s-1990s the town started to become less of a White area as the White population moved to newly established suburbs. In the 1990s the townships surrounding Pietermaritzburg started to merge with the White urban landscape.
Part of the development was the internecine war between ‘black communities’ that devastated Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu and Natal in 1984-1994. This was a result of conflicts between political parties such as UDF,67 ANC and Inkatha that controlled different areas in the Pietermaritzburg surrounds. In late 1987 and early 1988 violence broke out in Vulindlela valley, in 1990 the IFP took control of most of the areas, and the UDF-supporting youth fled to the township of Edendale (Levine 1999: 109, Taylor & Mark 1994: 35). The tension in
65 In use between 1952-1986.
66 In use between 1950-1991.
67 United Democratic Front.
Vulindlela valley between the ANC and IFP increased when Mandela was released and the ANC was unbanned. People were killed, houses were destroyed and thousands took to flight (Levine 1999: 9-12, 109).
The Natal Museum noted how Pietermaritzburg started to merge with the townships and how the unrest in the communities led to 64% fewer visitors (NMAR 1991/1992). The museum was fully aware of its surrounding community’s violence and hardship, since the staff engaged in an educational programme in Edendale and the museum was situated next to the police station where demonstrations and protest were held (NMAR 1992/1993). The Natal Museum tried to function as an educational resource and showed an awareness of the socio- political environment. The Msunduzi Museum (VM) did not comment on or document any reaction to the socio-political environment in Annual Reports or minutes, either because they did not find it necessary for the work in the museum or because they thought that comment was unnecessary. Since the museum did not make any comments it must be regarded as a place foregrounding White interests.
In today´s democratic Pietermaritzburg, the location of the museums in the city centre is far from the hub of life and the town is regarded as unsafe due to crime. The Natal Museum is located next to the police station while the Msunduzi Museum is located next to Langalibalele Street and an expanding taxi/minibus rank. While I have experienced no incidents walking in this area, it has been described to me as a ‘no go’ area for and by Whites and has become predominantly black. Shopping malls and other activities in the suburbs are the centre of life for Africans, Indians, Coloureds and Whites. The museums are thus located at a distance from the majority of the population, and for visitors to reach the museums they need transport either from the townships or from the suburbs. Yet both museums are located close to the taxi/minibus ranks, so once commuters are in town the museums are easy to reach. The museums function today mainly as an educational resource, but those who need them the most stay furthest away from them. Although the urban landscape has changed character the museums are still predominantly perceived as a White enclave.