On Saturday, over 150 people gathered at the District Six Homecoming Centre for the opening of ‘Gaza Remains the Story’, an exhibition in collaboration with the Palestinian Museum in Ramallah, Palestine.
A collective of young cultural activists referred to as the Cultural Solidarity Collective heeded the call made by the Palestinian Museum for the exhibition to reach audiences far and wide to amplify the voices of Palestinians in Gaza amid the ongoing genocide.
The collective approached District Six Museum and funding was secured to cover the printing costs.
In order to make the exhibition easily accessible, the Palestinian Museum has curated the exhibition and is ready to download and exhibit upon request to host the exhibition.
The exhibition comprising prints of mixed medium art and photographic works encapsulates the Palestinian experience in Gaza- life, cultural and heritage practices, as well as the resilient nature of its people.
District Six Museum Education Manager Mandy Sanger, said the launch of the exhibition took place during a significant time as it was the same week 30 years ago in which District Six was declared a White Group Area by the apartheid government. This resulted in the forced removals of around 50 000 residents.
“For our museum, it’s never just about District Six. District Six is a way in which we are able to explore other sites of forced removals in South Africa but also in the world,” Sanger said.
“The Palestinian exhibition is a moment for us to use the Palestinian experience to build solidarity, to take direct action to support the ending of the genocide but very importantly, it’s a moment for us to use that as a mirror for us to look at our own society, to look at our own ways in which the very powerful in our society have forgotten ordinary people. And so a large part of the work that we do in the museum is about humanising oppressed, marginalised, invisibilised people. They’re not a single entity, they’re made up of stories.”
Throughout the month-long showcase, a number of educational programmes linked to specific themes will take place.
These include immersive cultural experiences such as shared Palestinian dishes made by Palestinian families living in Cape Town, panel discussions, film screenings, and pop up exhibitions by Palestinian artists and activists.
Sanger said they intended to take the exhibition to schools as well.
A memory cloth was also placed to collect the attendees’ responses and reflections. Sanger said they hoped to send the memory cloth to Palestine to be embroidered.
“Embroidery is a powerful tool we use in our memory practice and it’s very much part of Palestinian culture called tatreez.”
Representative of the collective Zoë Fraser said: “We came together in response to an international call to action by the Palestinian Museum in the West Bank and this was a moment for us to engage with the multiple forms that resistance and international solidarity can take.”
“We also created additional programming to accompany and attempt to locate the Palestinian struggle within our own continued South African struggle… We have included workshops, screenings and talks dedicated to Palestinian cultural resistance and celebration of the resilient heritage constantly under imperial genocidal attacks.”
Fraser said no payment is received for the exhibition and therefore donations to cover various expenses are welcomed. This would ensure that the exhibitions and workshops remain free and open for all to attend.
An appeal has also been made for non-perishable food items and toiletries to be distributed to local organisations supporting community members in need. This will be done in March during the holy month of Ramadan with the care packages substituting the shared lunches as part of the programme. A drop-off point will be set up in the exhibition space.
Director of The Palestinian Museum Amer Shomali joined the opening of the exhibition virtually.
“In the past 15 months, we as Palestinians who are facing a genocide in Gaza, we have more than 40 000 Palestinians killed and another 20 000 still missing under the rubber. More than a million Palestinians in Gaza were displaced and still living in tents. And the West Bank, prior to that, 40 000 Palestinians have been displaced. Many houses have been demolished, thousands of trees have been uprooted and they keep telling us that we have no future in this land,” Shomali said.
“And this kind of exhibition is not only a way to tell the story of Gaza but it’s also a way to send messages to the world that we are not going to leave any one of us behind. We will stand together in Gaza and South Africa, in Nicaragua, in Chile, everywhere.”
For updates on the exhibition and additional programmes, follow the Gaza Remains the Story (gazaremainsthestory_cpt) on Instagram.
Monetary donations/ contributions to cover expenses related to the various activities can be made to: GRTS cpt; Capitec; 2355243979; use name as reference.
