Building the Archives

The robben Island museum plans to professionally manage, make optimum use of and dynamically grow its world-class multi-media archival collections.

A key way of doing this will be to link the collections unit closely with the broader activities of the museum, particularly via the Robben Island Memories Project approved by Council in 2000. This Project will look at the political prisoner experience in South Africa in a multi-faceted way, and will include a database of ex-political prisoners, personal testimonies, exhibitions and more.

A database of ex-political prisoners in South Africa

RIM has started a computerised database of the Robben Island prison registers, and will extend this exercise beyond the racial and gender boundaries drawn by apartheid to cover as many South African political prisoners as possible. The database will contain basic information on ex-prisoners and will serve as a work-in-progress ‘virtual’ or cyber memorial.

Personal testimonies

A key principal adopted by RIM in the re-imaging of Robben Island’s recent history is to tell the story using and engaging with the narratives and ideas of ex-political prisoners themselves. Consequently the museum has already conducted more than 200 personal interviews with ex-prisoners. This ongoing programme will produce material that will greatly enrich the Archives.

Special events

RIM seeks to create opportunities for ex-political prisoners to visit the Island and become involved in different ways. In 2001, for example, 12 reference groups of ex-Islanders with shared experiences will take part in planning the future of, for example, the stone quarry, communal cells and the ‘landbougroep’.

On National Women’s Day a special event will be held for women prisoners and activists and the families and friends of those imprisoned on the Island. These special events are recorded.

Exhibitions

The Cell Stories Exhibition in A Section and the Smuggled Cameras Exhibition in D Section (both prepared in 1999) comprise artefacts donated or loaned by individual ex-prisoners; each exhibition was prepared in accordance with suggestions by these ex-prisoners, and brought in valuable historical material.

The exhibitions in RIM’s Nelson Mandela Gateway building, currently under construction at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, are designed around technology that can give – and multiply – visitor access to RIM’s archives. This technology includes video streaming and touch, LCD and plasma screens.

Historical documents and artefacts (the Apple Box Archives)

The existing RIM collections include priceless items on the prison experience, recorded and maintained (often secretly) by the prisoners themselves. The personal letters, internal correspondence, minutes of meetings, reports, political education discussion papers, recreation plans, orders for equipment and other miscellaneous material yield rich insights into prison life. The bulk of this material comes from the official records of the Robben Island General Recreation Committee, which existed from the late 1960s through to the final releases in 1991, when the papers were deposited in the Mayibuye Archives.

Prisoners were usually released carrying their possessions in cardboard boxes, often apple boxes. This is how the prisoners’ papers came to be called the Apple Box Archives. Personal papers from political prisoners from differing backgrounds, such as Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Eddie Daniels, Don Davis, MN Ngubasi, Seddick Isaacs and Simon Xamlashe, complement this collection.

RIM will continue to look for and accept personal and institutional papers of the prison experience and the broader struggle. With the support of the relevant authorities, the museum’s research department has also started accessing, evaluating and using the state prison records.

Productions

In addition to exhibitions, RIM seeks to make accessible in different formats historical information based on personal experiences or the material in the archives.

• I will go singing: Walter Sisulu speaks of his life and the struggle for freedom in South Africa. In conversation with George Houser and Herbert Shore. RIM. 2000.
• Time stretching fear: The detention and solitary confinement of 14 anti-apartheid trialists, 1987–1991. Else Schreiner. RIM. 2000.
• Raymond Mhlaba’s personal memoirs: Reminiscing from Rwanda and Uganda. Narrated to Thembeka Mufamadi. Human Sciences Research Council and RIM. 2001.
• Reflections in Prison. Edited by Mac Maharaj. Zebra Press and RIM. 2001.

• Robben Island: A journey in sound. Produced by Lucie Page in association with RIM. 1998.
• South African freedom songs: Inspiration to liberation. Produced by Making Music, RIM, Mayibuye Centre and MTN. 1999.
• Prison songs: Cell stories. Thembinkosi Sithole, Phumlani Grant Shezi and Muntu Nxumalo in collaboration with RIM. 2000.

Furthermore, the WK Kellogg Foundation is sponsoring a series of film interviews with ex-prisoners by professional filmmakers. This is part of a joint project on leadership in Africa, and will kick start RIM’s film production capacity.

Conferences

The WK Kellogg Foundation will fund a conference in 2002 to conclude its leadership project and provide resources for the planning of permanent conference facilities on the Island, designed to increase its attractiveness as a place for reflection and discussion.

Robben Island seeks to deal with the legacy of Robben Island in a way that has integrity and does justice to its history. The involvement of ex-prisoners in this process is very important.

While the core business of the museum is the heritage aspect, it does seek to contribute where possible to broader economic development too. Ex-political prisoners are among the business partners of RIM, for example in the ferry operation, and RIM administers the Krotoa Science Scholarship for university study in science for descendants of sentenced prisoners under apartheid. The fund was started by Mac Maharaj with income from the sales of his book, Reflections in Prison.

The above activities help make RIM a dynamic museum. They ensure that new material is generated for the new UWC-Mayibuye Archives, and that the existing collections are actively researched.

In addition, the archive will always continue to seek new material along conventional routes, thus enhancing what is already a unique resource. This will include material on the general history of South Africa and the different ‘layers’ of Robben Island’s history over the centuries. Contributions are always welcomed. Please contact the Collections Co-ordinator at the numbers indicated in this booklet.