Cape Muslim and Slave Heritage Museum walkabout

The University of Cape Town (UCT) today commemorates International Day for the Rights to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.

On 5 February 2022, Igshaan Higgins, the curator, an activist, and attorney by profession, hosted a Summer School lecture on Cape Muslim and slave history, and a walkabout at the Cape Muslim and Slave Heritage Museum.

The museum, located at the Castle of Good Hope, contains in excess of 1 000 artefacts and works of art. This museum narrates the unedited history of the Cape by exploring the arrival of the Dutch East Indian Company, British Imperialism, the slave trade, the emancipation of the slaves, the vibrant cultures of District Six and Bo-Kaap and the contribution of Muslim, Jewish, Christian, African and Asian diasporas in shaping contemporary South African culture.

The museum tells this emotive visual story through a rare collection of paintings, artefacts, photographs and relics and aims to preserve the Muslim and slave history of the Cape.

Photographer Lerato Maduna was there to capture it all on camera.