Abstract:
In his work Past beyond memory: Evolution, museums, colonialism, Tony Bennett
asks how museums can ‘shed the legacy of evolutionary conceptions and colonial
science, so that they can contribute to the development and management of cultural
diversity more effectively’. This question is of particular pertinence in the South
African context where for a long time the material found in public or governmentfunded
museums on those not from the dominant sectors of society presented these
marginalised people as ‘objects rather than citizens and individual actors in their own
right’. Issues of inclusion or connection and exclusion are central to democracy – who
feels connected to civil society, who does not, and why? Who feels their voice is heard
and who does not? Over the past few decades a number of community embroidery
projects have been initiated in formerly marginalised areas. These projects have made
a name for themselves in terms of their artistic merit and have participated in
exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Proponents of these initiatives claim
that they go beyond connecting these craft artists with a wider audience. This paper
will discuss how these collections of embroidered story cloths can contribute to a
more inclusive society by combatting disadvantage, empowering communities and
developing social capital so that people can have an informed involvement in the
creation of an inclusive South African national memory.
