Since 1994, many new heritage sites and museums have been opened to contribute to forging a new south african identity. He and the other political prisoners were forced to work at the limestone quarries on the island. The island is a unesco world heritage site and has served as a whaling station, a leper colony and most notably as a prison, where south africas nelson mandela spent 18 years of his 27 years of incarceration before being elected as the countrys first democratic president. The museum is based on a site with a multilayered history which goes back to. The word rob means seal in afrikaans, which is derived from the dutch language. For years issues of mismanagement and theft surfaced at the robben island museum manager of the world heritage site, but with a new administration on board, former prisoners and museum staff are. Boat that was used to ferry prisoners to robben island now brings tourists to the island, which is now a museum, in table bay, cape town, south africa. It is an island in table bay, 12 km off the coast from cape town. Apartheid history travel south africa, western cape, cape town, robben island prison, unesco world heritage. It is most famously known as the place where late president nelson mandela was jailed for. Robben island, located off the coast of south africa, has a long history of being a penal or leper colony.
In 1964, an antiapartheid revolutionary named nelson mandela was arrested and brought to south africas robben island, just west of cape town. Robben island is both a south african national heritage site as well as a unesco world heritage site. Promoting access to robben island world heritage site and improving customer satisfaction by providing a relevant and unique. The apartheid prison of robben island pilot guides. Robben island has a long history as a place of exclusion, having. Robben island prison museum stock photos and images 525.
Springbuck, ostrich, rabbits, jackass penguins and cape fur seals are among the wildlife found on the island. With a storytellers sensibility, combined with rigorous research, charlene smith charts the evolution of the island s political and social history, from mail station, place of exile, and military defence post to maximum security prison and world heritage site. Robben island is located in table bay, some 6km west of bloubergstrand, and stands some 30m above sea level. Robben island a brief history south africa travel news. What emerges is that robben island s history and the memories and meanings associated with it extend far beyond the current emphasis on postapartheid south africa celebrating its new democracy and a triumph over a dark past. However, more recently, it was made into a museum in 1997 and recognised as a unesco world heritage. Robben island is a south african national heritage site as well as a unesco world heritage site.
A visit to robben island is by way of a standardised 3. Robben island has a chequered history of maritime contacts, confinement and. The journey takes around 30 minutes, giving you plenty of time to admire spectacular views of cape town and table mountain and to look for the whales, dolphins, penguins and fur seals that inhabit table bay. In addition to touring the maximum security prison buildings, the tour includes a 45 minute guided bus ride around the island and interaction with a former.
The ecomuseum movement has challenged many traditional approaches to museum and heritage management internationally, as the new robben island museum has done in south africa. Robben island, island in table bay, western cape province, south africa. Write a motivation letter, stating why you should be considered for the robben island museum bursary. Today, the island is a unesco world heritage site and museum, offering guided tours by former. In 1991 robben island was included in the sa natural heritage program and the northern part of the island was declared a bird sanctuary. This preeminent museum deals with 20th century south africa, at the heart of which is the apartheid. Yet it has also become a universal symbol of hope, forgiveness, and triumph.
Today, the prison is a museum and the island became a world heritage. Secure a ticket for the ferry to robben island and visit the prison where nelson mandela was kept during apartheid. Robben island has a long and comprehensive history. The island is a unesco world heritage site and has served as a whaling station, a leper colony and most notably as a prison, where south africas nelson mandela spent 18 years of his 27 years of incarceration before being elected as the countrys first democratic. Robben island world heritage site riwhs, located in the western cape region of.
With roundtrip transportation from your hotel, part 1 takes you via ferry to robben island, where nelson mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. This was during the apartheid era, when government policy sanctioned racial segregation, which discriminated against the nonwhite majority population. Memory, oral history and conservati on at robben island s bluestone quarry article pdf available in south african historical journal august. The history of robben island and an overview of the robben. Robben island is famous, or rather infamous, as the holding place for the imprisoned nelson mandela. From the dock, a bus will take you around part of the island and then come to the prison buildings, including viewing of the cell that housed nelson mandela for 18 of his 27 years in prison. Robben island history robben island is a world heritage site in south africa and it has quite a history. Memory, oral history and conservation at robben islands. Robben island is a small landmass located just seven kilometres four miles off the coast of cape town, in table bay. Robben island south africa history and gripping facts. Robben island is an island near cape town in south africa. For four centuries the island was an offshore prison for social outcasts and political prisoners, and during the 1930s and 40s it became a dumping ground for leprosy victims and a world war ii defence station. Today, robben island is a unesco world heritage historic site and a museum. Guide to the history and importance of robben island.
Robben island museum was declared a world heritage site in december. Mandela served 18 of his 27 years in prison incarcerated on the island s prison, but robben island has also housed a hospital, mental institution, leper colony and military base during its rich history. Robben island documents unesco world heritage centre. Robben island is a small landmass located off the coast of cape town, south africa. Author bio dalene is a travel writer dedicated to portraying africa and its people to the world to promote better communication and understanding between cultures across the continent. It declared that robben island offers the world, struggling under social injustices and intolerance, the example of the indomitable nature of the human spirit robben island museum 1999. In 1997 robben island was turned into a museum, and in 1999 it was declared a unesco world heritage site it has become an extremely important symbol for the new south africa, reflecting the triumph of democracy over apartheid and the ongoing journey towards racial tolerance. The purpose is to illustrate how robben island s use as. Address by president nelson mandela on heritage day at the formal launch of the robben. An exploration of south african diversity dynamics authors. Robben island world heritage site pictures, info and.
Robben island is both a south african national heritage site as well as a unesco world heritage. Robben island is roughly oval and about a kilometer wide. It was a highsecurity prison where nelson mandela was held captive for 18 years. Robben island was used at various times between the 17th and 20th centuries as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups and a military base. The known historical record of robben island can be described broadly, as in the world heritage application, in the following terms.
On 1 january 1997, robben island became the home to the robben island museum, a national museum and monument that displays its astounding history to the many tourists who flock there in search of more information and understanding about south africas past. Robben island was used at various times between the 17th and 20th centuries as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups and. This construction of the heritage of robben island downplays other layers of 1 the robben island museum, 2nd integrated conservation management plan. Its history as a prison is almost as old as the first dutch settlement on the cape, dating all the way back to the 17th century. The narrative of political imprisonment and experiences of political prisoners are the central theme and the anchor of robben island. This conception of heritage, one which museum management argued is founded upon an african conception of the significance of the meaning. Robben island lies approximately 12 kilometers from cape town and for the past 400 years this island has had anything but a peaceful history the island has become synonymous with heartache, despair and a place where people were dumped for various reasons, most of those reasons horrify us today and we often cannot image what it must have been like, what the. They were not allowed to talk or do anything but work. The name of robben island comes from the dutch meaning seal island. Pdf memory, oral history and conservation at robben islands. He would spend the next 18 years imprisoned in an 8x7foot cell, forced to do hard labor, and permitted only one visitor a year. Robben island is of cultural significance because of the social, historical, symbolic.
Its buildings, particularly those of the late 20th century. It takes its name from the dutch word for seals robben, hence the dutchafrikaans name robbeneiland which translates to seals island. In 1997 the robben island national museum was established. From the mid 1960s to 1991, it was home to south africas maximum security prison. Robben island department of sports, arts and culture.
Pdf this article explores hope as a technology of collective. The 3,3 km long and 1,9 km wide island is situated in table bay, 7 km west of the nearest mainland at bloubergstrand. Expand visitor base new and repeat customers promoting access to robben island world heritage site and expanding the local and international customer base by providing a relevant and unique experience. In 1654 the settlers of the dutch cape colony placed all. Unesco declared robben island in the western cape a world heritage site in 1999. A unesco world heritage site, the island is most known for housing the robben island prison where south africas late president, nelson mandela, spent 18 of his 27 years of incarceration before being elected as the countrys first democratic president. Robben island is one of cape towns major tourist attractions and is rich in the history of political prison it housed for many years. Even so, mandela went on to become his countrys first black president, a nobel peace prize.
Robben island has been used to isolate certain people since the end of the 17th century. Robben island has been used as prison and a place where people were isolated, banished and exiled to for nearly 400 years. It is 5 miles 8 km west of the mainland and 6 miles 10 km north of cape town and has an approximate area of 5 square miles square km. Robben island is most famous as the place where nelson mandela, the first democratically elected president of south africa, was. Promoting access to robben island world heritage site and improving customer satisfaction by providing a relevant and unique experience.
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