Mixed memories: rethinking the loss and transformation of the colonial heritage archive in the aftermath of the Jagger Library inferno and Rhodes Must Fall Movement

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article we look at how colonial heritage as an archive is being curated, and in some cases obliterated within selective priorities in South Africa and Zimbabwe that are informed by decolonial thinking and politics. We draw on the idea of archivability by referring to an inferno that destroyed part of the Jagger Library at the University of Cape Town and contestations associated with the presence and management of Cecil John Rhodes grave. We argue that the loss suffered at the Jagger Library highlights the urgent need for heightened public awareness and education concerning the significance of certain colonial heritage archives and the imperative to safeguard them. We believe that the loss and alterations to these archives risk fostering historical amnesia, where crucial aspects of a society’s colonial history are either erased or marginalized. Such oversights can distort our understanding of the past, impeding our ability to learn from history and address past injustices. However, we also acknowledge the complexity of the situation, noting that the fire occurred during a critical moment when other colonial edifices at the University of Cape Town were being contested following the 2015 Rhodes Must Fall Movement. Similarly, in Zimbabwe, the colonial heritage archive embodied by Rhodes’ burial site faced increasing challenges, with political leaders advocating for his remains to be unearthed and returned to England. Consequently, we contemplate the meanings embedded within the colonial heritage archive, considering the painful memories associated with many of these buildings and memorials dating back to the colonial era.