When photography shapes our history: a look back at an Indian township in the 1960s

In her upcoming exhibition, artist and photographer Hemisha Bhana explores the rich history of the once Indian township of Actonville, situated in the east of Johannesburg.

by The South African

07-11-2014 08:58

in News

In the 1960s, the Group Areas Act, act no. 41, tore up South Africa along race lines. People were pushed out of their homes and suburbs and shoved into separate and single race spaces. From these spaces townships grew and tight-knit communities formed, bonded by history and hardship. The shared history of such places was seldom documented or formally recorded and with the onset of democracy has been consigned to the memories of those who lived there.

In her upcoming exhibition Portraits of Actonville, artist and photographer Hemisha Bhana explores the rich history of one such space – the once Indian township of Actonville in the east of Johannesburg.

“I use photography as a medium to create a platform where memory becomes a history for a lost/hidden community. I use memory as a research method to understand a space as it stands in reality, referring to traces of the past that exist in real-time, creating an identity for a place and the people that once embedded that space,” says Bhana.

Having grown up in Actonville, Bhana recalls the closeness of a community united on a number of different fronts, including sport and particularly soccer. Portraits of Actonville began as a series of smaller projects that sought to find exciting ways of collecting and presenting Actonville’s history to the public. This has included a veteran exhibition soccer match between some of Actonville’s most reputable rival clubs in 2011.

Portraits of Actonville has since grown into a collection of interviews, articles and personal photographs, which Bhana has turned into an exhibition and book of iconic images that will stand as representational images of Actonville.

“Through photography I am able to capture the essence of Actonville’s history. Even though the place has changed, the stories still remain. This has allowed me to bridge the gap between the past and present, as both real and imagined,” she explains.

The exhibition and launch of Bhana’s books will take place on 15 November at the Actonville Circle. The ‘circle’ has always been a common meeting place for the Actonville community, it is a place of where people bump into old friends, start conversations and reminisce about the past.

“It is an ideal place to launch this book, the event will recreate the hype that existed in and around that space and will bring the people of Actonville together to celebrate a history and create an event of the past, in real time,” says Bhana.