The Restoration of Tulbagh As Cultural Signifier
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BETWEEN MEMORY AND HISTORY: THE RESTORATION OF TULBAGH AS CULTURAL SIGNIFIER Town Cape of A 60-creditUniversity dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in the Conservation of the Built Environment. Jayson Augustyn-Clark (CLRJAS001) University of Cape Town / June 2017 Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment: School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town ‘A measure of civilization’ Let us always remember that our historical buildings are not only big tourist attractions… more than just tradition…these buildings are a visible, tangible history. These buildings are an important indication of our level of civilisation and a convincing proof for a judgmental critical world - that for more than 300 years a structured and proper Western civilisation has flourished and exist here at the southern point of Africa. The visible tracks of our cultural heritage are our historic buildings…they are undoubtedly the deeds to the land we love and which God in his mercy gave to us. 1 2 Fig.1. Front cover – The reconstructed splendour of Church Street boasts seven gabled houses in a row along its western side. The author’s house (House 24, Tulbagh Country Guest House) is behind the tree (photo by Norman Collins). 1 Church Street inaugural speech by Prime Minister Vorster on the 16th March 1974. Fagan and Fagan. Church Street in het Land van Waveren (Cape Town: Printpak, 1974)175. 2 Translated from the original Afrikaans to English by Jacolette Kloppers (Media 24) and edited by author thereafter. Afrikaans original text: ‘Laat ons dit altyd onthou, dat ons geskiedkundige geboue nie slegs daar is as groot toeriste-aantreklikhede nie. Hulle is selfs meer as luisterryke tradisie: hulle is sigbare, tasbare geskiedenis. Hulle is ‘n vername maatstaf van ons beskawingspeil en ‘n oortuigende bewys aan ‘n bevoordeelde, kritiese wêreld, dat vir meer as 300 jaar reeds daar ‘n ordelike Westerse beskawing hier op die Suiderpunt van Afrika bestaan en floreer. Elke beskaafde land is trots op die spore wat hy gestap het op sy ontwikkelingspad – en die sigbare spore van ons kultuurerfenis is ons historiese geboue. Laat ons hulle dus sorgsaam bewaar en liefderyk in pand hou vir die nageslag, want hulle is inderdaad die transportaktes van die land wat ons liefhet en wat God in sy genade aan ons gegee het’. i Statement of Interest I was born in Cape Town in 1973 and moved to Tulbagh in 2007 to establish a heritage hotel business in Church Street, suitably named Cape Dutch Quarters. Over the last decade I have volunteered, instigated and become deeply involved in local heritage matters. In 2008 I co-initiated the Tulbagh Valley Heritage Foundation which was registered as a local conservation body by Heritage Western Cape in 2013. As the current Chairman of the Foundation, I have worked towards the establishment of a heritage area to include both Church Street and the core of the old village. I am also a longstanding member of the town’s Oudekerk Museum board of trustees and the affiliated Friends of the Museum Association. I am also an executive committee member of the Heritage Association of South Africa, the renamed once powerful Simon van der Stel Foundation. Student Name Jayson Augustyn-Clark Student Number CLRJAS001 Course Convenor Associate Professor S.S. Townsend School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics University of Cape Town Supervisors Associate Professor Alta Steenkamp Associate Professor André van Graan Editorial assistance Dr Patricia Davison (Museologist, cultural anthropologist) ii Plagiarism Declaration I declare that Between Memory and History: The Restoration of Tulbagh as a Cultural Signifier is my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree and any other university I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and pretend that it is one’s own. I have used the Chicago convention for citation and referencing. Each contribution to, and quotation in this dissertation from the works of others has been correctly attributed, carefully cited and properly referenced. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work. Signature Jayson Augustyn-Clark iii Dedication This study is dedicated to six remarkable people who represent over a century of Tulbagh conservation. They are three early Tulbagh residents and three heritage specialists who have become synonymous with the conservation and restoration of Tulbagh: Sir Meiring and Lady Mary Beck (1855 – 1919) (1865 – 1929) Dr Mary Cook (1902 – 1981) Dr Hans Fransen (Born 1931) Dr Gwen and Gawie Fagan (Born 1924 and 1925) Fig. 2. Gwen and Gawie Fagan at the inauguration of the restored Drostdy (Cape Times, 8 October 1974). iv Acknowledgements First and foremost my thanks go to my mother who instilled my appreciation for architecture, history, antiques, art, travel and things of beauty in general. She was born in 1947 in Dorchester, UK, as Joan Mary Harris (Ginny); in 1969 she moved to Cape Town, married WB Clark (Brian) in 1971 and died in 2016 in Tulbagh. I would like to thank my amazing husband Marcel Augustyn-Clark for his unwavering support for my heritage passions and the last three years of my studies. In particular I would like to acknowledge his seemingly endless translations of long detailed 1969 ‘high’ Afrikaans newspaper articles and National Monuments Council minutes in particular. My thanks go to Associate Professor Steve Townsend for inspiring me to undertake this Masters Degree, for challenging me throughout and putting up with my enthusiasm for so long. My primary (external) supervisor Professor André van Graan has been my Gibraltar. He is as patient as he is knowledgeable while his thought-provoking comments and insight reassured and guided me through the year and brought a calming and stable influence to the research project. My secondary (internal) supervisor Alta Steenkamp has strategically moved my research and I have found her input and architectural perspectives very motivating. My thanks to Wendy Upcott and Graeme Hurst, both friends and talented copy writers, who have selflessly over the years proofed my assignments and many versions of this thesis to remove all traces of my terrible spelling, poor punctuation, and bad grammar. I am also grateful to Doctor Patricia Davison, my neighbour in Church Street, for her detailed editorial assistance. v Abstract This dissertation examines heritage as a social construct by way of critically accessing the precursors, proponents and processes of the Tulbagh restoration. This research is focused on understanding the reasons why and how, after the earthquake of 1969, Church Street was reinstated to its ‘historic’ 18/19th century appearance. This reconstructive restoration is unpacked within its South African socio-political, 20th-century situation to examine the motivations of the proponents behind the restoration as well as their conservation philosophies that underpinned the stylistic reconstruction of Tulbagh back to what was regarded as its Cape Dutch ‘best’. The study comprises of an examination of both the theoretical development and practical application of reconstructions. Research traces the development of conservation in South Africa, first under the Union government and then under the Afrikaner Nationalist government to understand how Afrikaner Nationalism was superseded by the creation of a white South African identity. Pierre Nora’s theories around memory and identity are explored and applied in order to contextualise the Tulbagh case study in a theoretical framework to highlight similarities and differences. The proponents of the Tulbagh restoration consisted of a wide and varied selection of the South African conservation fraternity and included the National Society, the Cape Institute of Architects, historian Dr Mary Cook, the Simon van der Stel Foundation, Anton Rupert and his Historic Homes Company, Gawie and Gwen Fagan and Dr Hans Fransen, as well as the National Monuments Commission/Council. These same role players came together in the decade before the earthquake to formalise their association, conservation resolve and philosophies. The findings of the study suggest that although united with a common vision, philosophy and determination, these conservation advocates all had their own agenda and differing motivations for their involvement in Tulbagh’s restoration. Motivations ranged from straightforward conservation concern and a response to the threat of cultural devastation on one hand to ideological nation-building ideals and Afrikaner nationalism on the other. Although politics impacted early on and all three levels of government funded the bulk of the restoration costs, the diversity of the proponents suggests that this project was more complex than being motivated primarily by nationalism. Keywords: conservation, restoration, reconstruction, heritage, memory, identity, nation-building, Fagan, Tulbagh vi Table of contents Statement of interest .................................................................................................................................. ii