HISTORY THROUGH ART


ADORNING PARLIAMENT: THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA THROUGH ART


South Africa’s Parliamentarians and visitors to Parliament are reminded of the nation’s history, its traditions and its diversity through an impressive collection of art that reflects South Africa’s natural and human heritage, says the office responsible both for preserving it and displaying it for all to see.


The Artworks Office of Parliament in Cape Town. The Artworks Office was established by Parliament in 2001 to ensure that its art, artefact and heritage collections are preserved, documented, maintained and accessible to the public.


The Parliament of South


Africa has a collection of artworks, photographs and maps of South Africa and Africa that spans hundreds of years and comprises thousands of items. They are cared for and conserved by Parliament’s Artworks Office and Conservation Centre in accordance with museum best- practices, and are highly regarded for their socio-historical and rarity value. Parliament’s artworks fall into two


distinct phases: the limited works that have accrued since democracy in 1994, and the majority, representing a limited, colonial gaze upon the country’s history and its indigenous inhabitants. Visitors to Parliament are


particularly struck by two displays, the transformed symbols of our institution as embodied in the new post-colonial designs of the Mace of the National Assembly, the Black Rod of the


92 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One - South Africa


National Council of Provinces, and the emblem of Parliament, as well as the 120-metre richly-embroidered Keiskamma tapestry, woven by women in the town of Hamburg, Eastern Cape. The tapestry depicts the history of South Africa from the perspective of the rural people of that region.


Parliamentary symbols, South African style The Mace and the Black Rod are rich with symbolic relevance. They combine a wide variety of materials and techniques, ranging from ancient traditional skills to the latest laser- welding technology. Each element was carefully chosen to acknowledge


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