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Originally a multi-racial community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants, District Six was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Around 1901, under apartheid, around 60 000 black residents were the first to be forcibly displaced and 'resettled' elsewhere, in this case to barren outlying areas known as the Cape Flats, their houses bulldozed. In 1966 it was declared a ‘white’ area under the Group Areas Act of 1950. By 1982 the life of this vibrant place, where Hindus, Muslims and Christians co-existed peacefully, along with more than a century of history, community, solidarity and struggle was virtually wiped out.

The District Six Museum established in 1994, works as a space where the history, memories and experiences of these forced removals can be told openly through its collections, exhibitions and education programmes. The museum curates and manages a precious collection of historical materials, prints, paintings and physical remains of District Six in the form of street signs, architectural vignettes, artefacts, books and photographic images. Some of these date from the turn of the 19th century and document the process of the removal itself and the accompanying human tragedy.

It also has a small collection of original artworks by mostly local artists, and a unique sound archive collection of people’s stories, music and speeches to preserve the oral history of this vital cultural community that once enlivened the lower reaches of Devil’s Peak in Cape Town.

Courtesy of SouthAfrica.net

Photograph thanks to Dudley