(South African Voices team members: Pamela
Bess: Museum audio visual content producer; Bren Brophy: South African Voices
Museum Curator; Nkosikhona “Uzzi” Mpungose: Youth liaison officer, and Debbie
Heustice: South African Voices Project Director. Pic by Harry Lock)
Opening to the
public from July 2016, South African
Voices: Towards a Museum of HIV Memory and Learning is a collection of
artefacts, artistic, historic and photographic items that pay tribute to people
affected by HIV.
South African Voices is a partnership project between eThekwini
Municipality, Avacarehealth and info4africa. It will be situated at KwaMuhle
Local History Museum
The collected items
pay tribute to those who suffered and succumbed, and those who live with HIV
every day in South Africa.
“Created as a
legacy project of AIDS2016, South African
Voices documents a critical and defining chapter in our collective history
in South Africa. It offers all people space to celebrate the achievements and
reflect on the journey we have taken from the dark days of denialism and calls
to "Break the Silence" at AIDS2000, to having the largest HIV
treatment programme in the world,” says project director, info4africa’s Debbie
Heustice.
Curator Bren Brophy
says: “Drawing from the experiences of a wide variety of stakeholders engaged
in HIV-related health care in South Africa, South
African Voices strives to tell the story of our South African HIV history
in a manner that is authentic, elegant, sensitive and holistic.”
Heustice adds: “As
our journey with HIV is far from over, South
African Voices is an ever-evolving collection of memories and stories that
explore the lived human experiences of the South African HIV pandemic. This South African Voices collection marks
the start of a journey towards institutionalising a museum of HIV memory and
learning in South Africa.”
A special project
within South African Voices will be
the construction of a Light of Hope- an interactive sculpture installation
taking the form of a large HIV hope light sculpture. The Light of Hope is being
designed and facilitated by Robin Opperman and Ujala Sewpersad of Umcebo
Design.
The Light of Hope
sculpture will be constructed in the Global Village of the AIDS2016 Conference
this July. Consisting of plastic leaves made from recycled materials, each leaf
will carry personalised, beaded messages of remembrance, hope and celebration.
The idea is for conference delegates to participate in the making of the Light
of Hope artwork and in so doing, contribute their voices to this special,
legacy museum piece.
Visitors of the South African Voices will be encouraged
to share their lived experiences of HIV with the museum by contributing their
stories as well as donating archival and contemporary materials. Beyond
AIDS2016, South African Voices will
continue to be a dynamic, creative and equitable space for learning, dialogue
and reflection.
South African
Voices will be open to the public from July 12 onwards. Special opening times
during AIDS2016 event: July 18 to 22: 08h00 to 16h30. Normal opening times: Monday
to Friday from 08h00 to 15h50 and Saturdays from 08h30 to 12h30. KwaMuhle Local
History Museum is situated on Bram Fischer Road, adjacent to the AIDS2016
Conference parking.
Posts
