On Saturday, 30 November 2019, Iziko Museums of South Africa will be celebrating World AIDS Day and Emancipation Day – commemorating both the abolishment of slavery and the worldwide efforts made to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The commemoration programmes will take place at both the Iziko South African Museum and at the Iziko Slave Lodge.
World AIDS Day
Founded on 1 December 1988, World AIDS Day aims to bring people together to unite in the fight against HIV/AIDS, support those living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses.
- The World AIDS Day programme will run from 09h30 until 12h20 at the Iziko South African Museum and will consist of an educational workshop followed by a public discussion that is aimed at creating greater awareness about the disease.
Emancipation Day
This day will also mark the commemoration of the abolishment of slave trade in 1834. It was first established after the British Parliament passed the Slave Emancipation Act in 1833, banning its policy of enslaving and transporting Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean islands.
- To highlight this historic milestone, the Emancipation Day programme will be celebrated through a stage performance that explores the lived experiences of ex-incarcerated ‘Coloured’ men in Cape Town. Devised by Wyden Adams, Shafiek Williams, Eugene Buekes and Jamierodeen Temoore, and facilitated by Jan-Louise Lewin, Javier Perez and Jason Jacobs – this performance will run between 13h00 and 16h20 at the Iziko Slave Lodge, and aims to celebrate Emancipation Day and the legacies of the enslaved by recovering the forgotten narrative of die drosters.
In remembering this history, it revisits the tragedy of ancestral loss and dislocation, giving voice to the silenced.
Iziko hopes that this programme on Saturday 30 November will generate new insight and create educational awareness about issues of HIV/AIDS and further, it is hoped that this event will also highlight contemporary forms of slavery that society still grapple with today.
WHERE: Iziko Museums of South Africa– see the 2020 Arts + Crafts Map
- Iziko Museum of South Africa, Company’s Garden, 25 Queen Victoria Road, Cape Town 8001
- Iziko Slave Lodge, corner Adderley & Wale Streets, Cape Town, 8001
WHEN: Saturday 30 November, 2019
INFO: contact Philiswa Kwaphuna on pkwaphuna@iziko.org.za or 0214813829/04 & Javier Perez jepperez2@gmail.com
See also Cape Town Green Map
