Nature of project: During preparations for the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD), it was suggested that Constitution Hill become part of the tourist route in Johannesburg. The recently appointed heritage team jumped at the opportunity to give the public a chance to interact with the space – despite Constitution Hill being a building site and unknown as a tourist destination. The strategy was to make the site’s very growth a spectacle and a talking point.

Three exhibitions were mounted in different spaces throughout the site. The exhibition in the entrance tunnel beneath the ramparts paid tribute to the masses of prisoners who had passed through the tunnel. The exhibition mounted at the vantage point of the ramparts gave visitors a physical and conceptual orientation to the site. Large images from the site’s history as well as from the Constitution were printed on transparent fabric and relevant quotes from the Constitution stood in juxtaposition with the image. The idea was to use the history of the Fort and the Constitution as a prism through which to view the site and Johannesburg from this particular vantage point.

The Three Women exhibition – an installation in silk, photographs and sound – told the stories of three women who spent time at the Women’s Jail: Daisy de Melker, Nomathemba Constance Funani and Jeannie Noel – a murderer, an ordinary woman spurred to become a pass resister and a political activist from Durban respectively.

The Documentation Room was an archive exhibit where visitors could examine the architectural and urban design for Constitution Hill. The memory room was a private space that allowed visitors to record either their own experiences in the prison or their responses to the site in development.

Key responsibilities:
Project management and fundraising
Concept development
Curation
Interpretive planning
Content development
Script writing
Exhibition design

trace personnel involved:
Mark Gevisser – Project manager
Lauren Segal – Director of content
Nabeel Essa – Part of design team