Liberated waste: heritage and materiality at Robben Island and Constitution Hill, South Africa

Post-apartheid South Africa's use of heritage as a tool for reconciliation and nation-building has been critiqued through the contrasting fates of material remains from two apartheid-era incarceration sites: Robben Island and Constitution Hill. The study reveals that while the fence from Robben Island was rebranded into an artistic commodity, generating commercial profit, the building materials from the Old Fort Prison were demolished and recycled to construct the Constitutional Court, symbolizing constitutional justice. Both cases demonstrate how heritage significance is shaped by engaged interpretation and circulated in diverse economies of cultural, political, and economic value, ultimately questioning the inclusive potential of a reconciliatory heritage framing.

Jethro, D. (2018). Liberated waste: heritage and materiality at Robben Island and Constitution Hill, South Africa. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 25(3), 259–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1482226