There is a need for communities to engage with ‘the local’ and for inhabitants to realise their agency in placemaking. The South African department of Sport, Arts and Culture prioritises cultural heritage, yet many sites are neglected and the potential for public engagement is underdeveloped. This is a common occurrence when communities do not feel part of the placemaking process. The representation of place is an important aspect of placemaking but the danger is that the representations of place can generate or reinforce a separation between the viewer and the place, turning it into something to be looked at, instead of something unfinished to be part of, with a history and a future to be worked with. Heritage embodies the intangible connection with a place or thing through memories which carries meaning either ingrained culturally or socially. Venter further argues that heritage sites, be they traditional or cultural, encourage an intangible attachment between an individual and the place.
This is a project of the department of Visual Arts and Design at the Vaal University of Technology. The purpose of this project is to explore how collaborative multimodal storytelling can contribute to placemaking. Furthermore, the project explores how skills transfer and collaboration can contribute in addressing the lack of ownership and identification with memorials and heritage while at same time engaging socio-economic development.
This project started by Photography students telling heritage stories from Sharpeville, in collaboration with community members. This project will evolve to include more stories, more community interactions, and a eventually become an archive of memories and materials.