Slavery Remembrance Gallery and Enslaved Lives Open Days at Leeuwenhof Slave Quarters
Join a tour of the Leeuwenhof Slave Quarter galleries which feature the Cape Town Museum curated “Legacy of Slavery” and “Remember Us” exhibitions focusing on the history of slavery through the lens of Leeuwenhof, and the Association for Visual Arts (AVA) curated Slavery Remembrance Gallery, featuring art by contemporary artists who share in the heritage of slavery and slave trade routes. The latest AVA exhibition entitled "Between Shadows" is on show from November 2023.
Tours take place every first Saturday of the month (excluding January) at 10:30. Entrance is free but pre-booking is essential. Bookings close at 10:00 on the Friday before the tour.
Slavery at the Cape impacted thousands of people and their families. Between 1658 and 1807, 63 000 people were snatched from their homes and brought to the Cape as forced labour for the expanding settlement by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and later the British colonial authorities. The people enslaved at the Cape came from Madagascar, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and during the early VOC period at the Cape, some were brought in from West Africa.
Leeuwenhof’s history as a wealthy eighteenth century estate and slaveholding, the property of a nineteenth century mining magnate, the official residence of the Administrators of the Cape Province and currently the official residence of the Premier of the Western Cape, offers a unique opportunity for further understanding the local reaches of enslavement, and the resulting historical trauma that lives on in the present Cape Town.
Please complete the form to book your space.
Please note that proof of identity has to be supplied at the security gate.