These days when you hear "District 6" your mind might immediately go to the Hunger Games (especially if you're a fan of YA literature). However, far from being fictional, District 6 was a real place in Cape Town, South Africa, established as a mixed community of freed slaved, immigrants, merchants, artisans, and laborers. As part of the apartheid regime, in the early 20th century, the community was first marginalized, and then people started being forcibly removed. The first group to be removed were black South Africans in 1901. In Feb. 1966, District 6 was declared a "white area" under the Group Areas Act of 1950. More than 60,000 people were forcibly evacuated from District 6 while their homes were flattened with a bulldozer. The District 6 Museum was established in 1994 to commemorate and remember the trauma that those who were forced to leave underwent.
While there are many benefits and attractions at the District 6 Museum, the three that I found most interesting are what I'll call "the suitcase", "the floor", and "the hanging". "The suitcase" was a literal suitcase that symbolized the amount of room a family had to pack their belongings in. Most families left with one suitcase (approximately airplane carry-on standard- 9X14X22) per person. This visual really hit home because it shows visitors exactly what most families could take with them to rebuild their lives.
"The floor" is actually pictured above. This was the floor in the main lobby of the Museum and it depicts all of the streets of District 6 along with the names of the people who lived on those streets on where their homes used to be, along with the dates that they were evicted. This really shows visitors the scale and number of people who were forced to leave. You can literally walk along the streets and see who lived where.
"The hanging" is a massive (easily 15X5 ft) piece of canvas where people who lived in District 6, the relatives of people who lived in District 6, or visitors who had a connection to the Museum or the District in some way could write messages and sign their names. There were still people looking for their neighbors. This truly showed how much relocation affected the lives of everyone in the district.
This museum, located in District 6 (on 25A Buitenkant St.) helps the public remember the history of apartheid and keeps the memory of those who were forcibly relocated alive.
All information was found at http://www.districtsix.co.za/index.php, the official District 6 website.
