Apartheid museum Walter Sisulu VR exhibition

Photo supplied by the Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud (IFAS)

Walter Sisulu VR exhibition ‘Reality Check’ opens at Apartheid Museum [photos]

A Virtual Reality exhibition on Walter Sisulu based on the sound recordings of the Rivonia Trial opened at the Apartheid museum.

Apartheid museum Walter Sisulu VR exhibition

Photo supplied by the Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud (IFAS)

The Walter Sisulu Virtual Reality (VR) exhibition is the first of its kind to be hosted by the Apartheid Museum. It was created through a partnership between the museum and Paris-based film production company, La Générale de Production.

“Sisulu was a man of action and confrontation. When Sisulu was arrested, he had to face the enemy. And his determination, his courage, his calm attitude have brought out the absurdity of the regime.”

French Ambassador to South Africa, Aurélien Lechevallier
Walter Sisulu exhibition
Photo: Cheryl Kahla/TheSouthAfrican.com

Since there is no footage of the Rivonia Trial, a trove of 256 hours of sound archives were used to bring the political battle waged by Nelson Mandela and his seven co-defendants against apartheid to life.

Reality Check: Accused #2: What is it about?

The 15-min VR-film (virtual reality) looks at one of them in particular: Accused No. 2, Walter Sisulu. The exhibition will be on show at the Apartheid Museum until March 2020.

The exhibition is titled Reality Check, not only in reference to the use of virtual reality technology, but the producers also hope to remind us that we sometimes forget remarkable individuals who were working behind the scenes.

Apartheid museum Walter Sisulu VR exhibition
Photo supplied by the Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud (IFAS)

While the spotlight was, at the time, aimed at Nelson Mandela and the extraordinary role he played in public, we sometimes forget about the lesser-known heroes; such as Walter Sisulu.

Reality Check: Walter Sisulu – Accused #2 Launch

The recordings used in the film were recently unearthed and restored by France’s Institut National de l’Audiovisuel. It helps us to rediscover the story of the African National Congress’s fight against apartheid.

Background information about Walter Sisulu and the events leading up to the trial are on display in the virtual reality room at the Apartheid Museum as well.

Walter Sisulu exhibition
Photo: Cheryl Kahla/TheSouthAfrican.com

The exhibition opened on 22 November 2019 and will run until March 2020. Speaking at the event, the French Ambassador to South Africa, Aurélien Lechevallier, said:

“We have been waiting impatiently for this exhibition for a long time. Tonight is a moving moment for us. Through the voice of Walter Sisulu, in this specific venue in South Africa, the Apartheid Museum; we immerse ourselves in a common memory.”

French Ambassador to South Africa, Aurélien Lechevallier

Jason Sisulu, one of Walter Sisulu’s 27 grandchildren, also attended the event and thanked the audience for attending to honour his grandfather’s memory.

“To see you all here, honouring such a giant of the liberation struggle fills me with immense pride. My grandfather would have been proud of the great honour that the Apartheid Museum and the French Institute bestowed on him.”

Jason Sisulu

“An activist in every sense of the word”

He added that it was a privilege to represent his family at the event, saying that Walter Sisulu was “a leader, an activist in every sense of the word.”

“He was a father, a brother, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, a friend; and most importantly, a devoted leader of the liberation struggle and the fight for freedom in South Africa.”

Walter Sisulu exhibition
Image via Twitter: FrenchEmbassyZA

He said while his grandfather was imprisoned for 26 years, his grandmother, Albertina Sisulu, held the family together by raising and educating 27 children; “as well as children of the extended family.”

Jason added that his grandfather was a “father to a nation,” and felt the responsibility to create a better future for all South Africans. He never lost sight of that vision, despite enormous personal sacrifices.

“Long live Walter Sisulu. Thank you again for being here and honouring my grandfather.”

Jason Sisulu
Walter Sisulu exhibition
Photo: Cheryl Kahla/TheSouthAfrican.com

Reality Check: Walter Sisulu – Accused #2: Awards and accolades

Reality Check is directed by Nicolas Champeaux and Gilles Porte, and produced by La Générale de Production; in collaboration with artistic director Michaël Bolufer and graphic designer Oerd Van Cuijlenborg.

The film was featured at Tribeca’s film festival back in April 2018. It went on to win half a dozen prizes for best linear narrative, including top awards at the Animafest Zagreb 2019 in Croatia.

The events of the film play out in the confined area of the courtroom of the Rivonia Trial, which took place between 1963 and 1963. It shifts focus to “the momentous nature of the proceedings and the violent arguments that occurred”.

Percy Yutar, initially a towering, threatening, nightmarish man turns into a ludicrous, disjointed puppet, while the opposite is true of the accused.

Watch: Reality Check: Walter Sisulu – Accused #2 trailer

Rivonia Trial: A quick recap

The trial was named after the suburb in Johannesburg where the late Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, along with 11 other defendants, were arrested at Liliesleaf Farm on 11 July 1963.

“I wish you could spend a day in the shoes of an African. Then you would know the situation in this country!”

Walter Sisulu, Pretoria, April 1964

Some of the other leaders arrested on that day included Ahmed Kathrada, Bob Hepple, Govan Mbeki, Harold Wolpe, Raymond Mhlaba, Andrew Mlangeni and Arthur Goldreich.

The government took advantage of legal provisions allowing for accused persons to be held for 90 days without trial, and the defendants were held incommunicado. 

Charges included recruiting persons for training in the preparation and use of explosives and in guerrilla warfare for the purpose of violent revolution and committing acts of sabotage.

Charges

They were also charged with conspiring to commit the aforementioned acts and to aid foreign military units; as well as acting in ways to further the objectives of communism.

After Nelson Mandela gave a speech from the dock during the historic Rivonia Trial, Walter Sisulu was the first co-defendant to be cross-examined by the infamous prosecutor, Percy Yutar.

Sisulu had left school at the age of 14. Yet over the five days of the hearing, he ultimately succeeded in making a powerful case in front of journalists from all over the world; as well as the diplomats attending the trial.

“Our aim was to highlights how a man from a modest, rural background came to take on such a prominent role in the anti-apartheid struggle. Sisulu was the one to first to identify Mandela’s leadership potential.”

Nicolas Champeaux, Director and curator.

Rare gems uncovered from a host of archival sources demonstrate that, at several critical moments in the struggle, Sisulu encouraged his comrades to make brave decisions which ultimately helped to topple the apartheid regime.

Also read – The State Against Mandela and the Others: Cannes film revisits Rivonia trial