We started at the National Museum, basically a Natural History Museum, with a tour of the entire space and then a lecture on the Oral History Project that is in year 5 of 10 documenting the stories of the Batho township outside of Bloemfontein.
UFS = University of the Free State, just FYI.
"SAS Titanic -What went wrong?" with Professor Hussein Solomon, Dept of Political Science. He had very strong opinion about the ANC now and then and shared his views eloquently with us. "When I was about 9, I asked my father what the difference between an optimist and a pessimist was. He answered, 'pessimists have more reliable statistics.'"
"Resistance art or cultural translation" with Prof. Suzanne Human, Dept of History of Art. Shared her views about the idea of "resistance art."
26 July
Sitting back at Mugg and Bean at Mimosa Mall....
This morning we left early for the drive almost back to the Lesotho border to visit the Mmabana Cultural Center. A huge, beautiful complex where local kids can come and work in the arts. Also karate and sports. They often win international competitions. There were 2 beautiful dance studios and what looked like a strong staff of dedicated teaching artists. The kids are able to come to the center whether they can pay or not (monthly fee of R50, approx $7) so long as they come and continue coming consistently.
A very few photos of the museum, gallery and arts center.
And then an afternoon of lectures:
"Lesotho-Free State relations during the liberation struggle: an ANC exile perspective" with Mr. Leon Sidyiyo, Head of Crime Intelligence, South African Police Services. He was involved in an uprising in solidarity with Soweto (at his school 3 days after) in 1976. A first hand account of what it was like to flee to Lesotho in 1977 as a student, to join the opposition forces as a refugee. After 2 years, he went to Nigeria, for University (studying International Relations) and came back to South Africa in September, 1994.
"The African National Congress (ANC) and political mobilization in the Free State, 1990 - 1994" with Dr. Chitja Twala, Dept of History "Only when the people are united, can they do harm to the Apartheid government...." People in the individual cells did not know who all the other members were so they could not be tortured and forced into giving them away. "If the ANC was unbanned on Feb 2, we thought that by Feb 3 we'd have a black president. We thought that if Mandela was released on Feb 11, then the next day he'd be president." In fact, as we know, it took time for negotiations, it took time for compromises, it took time for elections. They may not have been adequately prepared to manage all of this. Pre 1990, people were screened before they could join the ANC to make sure they were not informants. Post unbanning, anybody can join the ANC, even if they don't understand the past and the history of the organization. The youth leaders of the ANC today were not even born in 1990!
Simplified and paraphrased....
We are actually very interested, even though it may not appear so with our body language.
Location:Bloemfontein, Thaba Nchu
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