Exploring Ephemeral Memorial Landscapes in Sharpeville
Edwin Pitja
MArch 2022
Supervisors:
Unit Leader: Dr. Finzi Saidi
Unit Leader: Mathebe Aphane
Unit Tutor: Bonolo Masango
Unit Tutor: Nomalanga Mahlangu
UNIT 15X
Landscapes of Memory
Awards
Examiner’s Choice: Dr Jennifer Beningfield
Examiner’s Choice: Sushma Patel
Distinction
I am investigating Sharpeville’s commemorative rituals performed in
remembrance of the Sharpeville massacre, exposing the political agendas
behind the current memorials. I am taking rituals performed by the
community as informative of a new memorial landscape that is inclusive
and can aid the process of healing and moving on in ways the community
relates to. The community started taking ownership of their history
through storytelling, setting mbaolas on the side of the streets and
elders told stories to the young. Currently the ritual takes place at
the memorial precinct. I am taking storytelling as the base for
formulating designs together with other rituals like go phasa to mark
the communities’ significant sites to their history. The new memorial
landscape acts as a framework, an aleatory that allows the participation
of the community to form the memorials. As part of the memorial
creation, I am using mbaola storytelling as a catharsis to aid the
process of healing and moving on and a catalyst to bringing the
community together.
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