For instance, when the Batswana chiefs tried to abort the Boers invasion of their land:. Montshiwa responded by appealing for British intercession while simultaneously trying to enlist the support of Batswana allies sympathetic to his cause.
He approached the Bahurutshe under Ikalafeng in the Marico district, who sent a regiment under his uncle to assist the Tshidi Barolong. As the Hurutshe were resident in the Transvaal, this did not sit well with the Boer authorities.
Anticipating an attack, Ikalafeng placed stone fortifications around his capital at Dinokana. In February a commando was sent against the Bahurutshe, and Dinokana was captured without a shot being fired. The stone fortifications were pulled down and piled up as a so-called 'monument to peace'.
A monument honouring Chief Montshiwa exists in Mafikeng and should be included in the national liberation heritage route. Very few people, if any, would know anything about Chief Montshioa's monument, or the sefikantswe that is found in Dinokana today. There are hundreds of these landmarks throughout the country, but were never given a rightful position of recognition. Instead the colonial and apartheid figures are prominently situated in cities, platteland dorpies , institutions and heritage sites across the land.
The reaction can be justified, rightly or wrongly, because the nation is still divided and attached to imbalances of the past. As Headley and Kobe point out:. Current challenges around social cohesion amidst harsh inequalities in South Africa are shaped by the legacy of imperialism, colonialism and apartheid.
Colonial disruption and imposition of foreign cultures upon the social fabric of African life wrecked the conceptual frameworks of the indigenous inhabitants of Africa. This was brutality legalised under the apartheid. Apartheid was a shameful and deliberate attempt to alienate Africans from all forms of cultural stimulation which, as a result and as planned, undermined self-confidence and will.
The deliberate intentions of ignoring, side-lining or marginalising the artistic expression of cultural heritages monuments, statues, symbols etc. The perpetrator's intention is that the subjects or victims' humanness ubuntu be painted off their memories in order to coerce or to oppress them. If people do not know their history, they become the victims of greed and selfishness that is initiated by others.
This act comes as a military imagery to defend or destroy the minds of the victims just as 'the army's constructive impact and of its potentially destructive role on local communities and their economies' Punt It is the act ad summum [to the highest point] of social destruction and exclusion, racism that 'seeks to eliminate another on the basis of differences that it believes to be hereditary and unalterable' Fredrickson Subsequent to indirect colonial rule that left Africans disempowered, apartheid proponents enhanced ideological odium humani generis [hating the human race] that promoted misunderstanding and intertribal hatred.
This ideology heightened the negative image of Christianity, by encouraging the abandonment of indigenous knowledge systems, therefore stamping out the indigenous Christian people as outsiders to a broader society. The defaulters were regarded as potentially dangerous, in some cases facing possible punishment by missionaries or indigenous authorities.
Villa-Vicencio and Grassow cite a typical example of how Chief Montshioa of Barolong-bo-Ratshidi clashed sharply with his brother Molema, who was a strong Wesleyan preacher. The bone of contention was that Molema's gospel message convinced the tribe to abandon cultural practices, especially bogwera [initiation practices]. National symbols are defined as the symbols or icons of a national community, used to represent that community in a way that unites its people.
Ginty elaborates:. Symbols and symbolism can act as a vehicle for the development of an identity bond between the individual and the group and for group solidarity. They can also help promote a certain world-view and mobilise emotions and people. While symbols and symbolism are evident in mass phenomena such as ethnic mobilisation and nationalism they often play more subtle and calming roles in society.
The common national symbols include the coat of arms, flag, anthem, an item such as a bird, animal, tree, flower, etc. The nation rallies under these symbols to express their cohesion, patriotism or allegiance. They are the symbols of identity and nationality. In the biblical context, they serve as object lessons VanGemeren Examples here include Passover lamb, 12 stones placed in the middle of the River Jordan when children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land.
These were to serve as object lessons for God's deliverance to the coming generations. In the words of Louw :. Symbolisation and aesthetic signification are integral ingredients of Christian reflection on meaningful perspectives for life and significant religious experiences of divine presence.
National symbols have the potential to unite or to divide. This is as a result of their ambiguity as they 'suggest meaning rather than stating it' Mickelsen Prior to , the then South African national symbols were objects of national division, as the nation was segmented into racial, tribal or ethnic cloves and cohorts.
These symbols were identity signs for one particular racial group. South Africans, especially black people, were always hurt at the international events when the then South African national flag had to be hoisted.
Nationally, it was never a symbol of patriotism or pride, including some religious spaces where it was never hoisted, since:. The old South African anthem was also regarded by the majority population as something not melodic or diatonic. It was a foreign song to the majority of the citizens, regarded as a symbol of empowering the oppressor or promoting the ideology that victimised others. This is captured by De Gruchy stating that:. National emblems, such as flags for example, have iconic significance for many, binding people together in common purpose.
But they can become idolatrous when a nation embarks on policies that are oppressive and destructive - especially when pursued, as often as they are, in the name of God. South African history is painful and hurtful to the majority of the citizens, especially the indigenous inhabitants. These people see the monuments that bear no aesthetics or romance for them. These people cannot connect their history or culture to these symbols.
The symbols evoke the memory of the painful past. Dube rightly asserts:. The busts represent a particular historical period and persons, and therefore emit 'mnemonic energy'. As figures of memory, they demand us to ask why these particular individuals. In , the new symbols had to be adopted or adapted to expedite national unity and generate a new form of patriotism and democratic national unity.
Ginty reminds us:. A programme of national unity Masakhane or building the nation together , was created and made heavy use of symbols and symbolism in the promotion of a new brand of civic nationalism. The then ethnocentric politics had to be de-centred through the implementation of the new symbols.
These symbols had to be authentic and deeply symbolic to foster togetherness that can reconcile relationships and heal the brokenness De Gruchy ff. These new symbols had to promote justice, peace, wholeness and national authenticity. They were not designed to promote greed, corruption, violence, war, sexual exploitation, denigration of the body or history that is shameful and dehumanising.
Symbols have the potency of transporting the memory to the lofty realm of enlivening the metaphysical to corporeal senses. Symbols express an 'abstract or transcendent concept, connecting two different realms' Ito Even in African Christianity, spectacularly with African Indigenous Churches, symbols and symbolism play a significant spiritual identification. These are the signs or a system of signs used to show information about something in history such as a building or a road.
In South Africa many buildings, institutions, roads or streets acquired the new names consonant with liberation struggle and heroes. Signs had to be mounted to these landmarks to demonstrate the new era of democracy. Signages are not just for identification but also for warning and giving direction. Signs are critical in religious expression. Cilliers cites Peter Berger ff.
These signs or signals of transcendence should, however, never be seen as evidence of the transcendence - an interpretation of this nature always remains a discernment through faith. In a collective form, statues, symbols and signages all serve as the monuments that convey the message of either national history or collectivism. A monument is a statue, building or other structure erected to commemorate a notable person or event.
It may be a structure placed over a grave in memory of the dead, or a historical site of importance or interest: A monument is an enduring and memorable example of something.
It is for this reason that these icons command some indelible power to resuscitate memories. Beholding them revives the history. Berenson , claims that it is within the human nature that when a great artwork is seen, there is a feeling of poignant thrill of transfiguring sensation. In another place, Berenson reinforces this fact that 'When the viewer looks at a tactile work, his or her life gets and extra surge of force'. The South African society is still significantly divided along the racial lines, the rich and the poor, the economically marginalised and the benefactors, the beneficiaries and the victims of apartheid etc.
The statues, symbols and signs bring history closer to the present. For the elite members of the society, however, these symbols are deniably important:. Marks of wealth and social power, they were also signifiers of piety and honour, placed in sanctuaries and public settings like the agora, the theatre, or the gymnasium where one's honour was most displayed, acknowledged, and admired.
Bobou However, as De Gruchy alludes: 'Not all images are worthy of adoration or emulation, and some represent values that are dehumanising, degrading and destructive'. The current generation looks at them as aigre doux [sourness or bitterness] that opens the wounds of the painful historical events. So, when the historically disadvantaged masses behold these monuments, the memory kicks out of the shell because these symbols in various forms express the painful past, and in recent cases, the imbalanced present.
These icons are indeed the instruments of torture to the memory. They open up the wounds instead of healing them, though historically, the icons, especially in the Orthodox traditions, 'are a living memorial to the Divine energy and a means of receiving healing and grace' Nicolaides If the symbols or monuments were properly interpreted from the religious perspective, they would make God real and fathomable.
Joubert is correct that:. These visual manifestations of deities served as the basic system of reference in terms of how people came to know and interpret the divine. The memory of such encounters was expressed in poems, epic stories, votive reliefs, and so on, but also by means of various symbolic expressions and actualisations of the divine in sanctuaries and rituals.
It'll be ideal to understand definition of icons. It has been stated that icons are monuments or symbols that assist the memory to contemplate on one's historical or cultural origins. Vlachos helps in understanding the icon from a religious perspective:.
In common language, the word 'icon' means 'image'. However, from the time of the early Christian Church, the word 'icon' is generally used to denote images with a strong religious content, significance and use … All icons represent a religious topic and for them to be acceptable should not simply be a representation of a religious subject, but rather, an expression and representation with a religious significance.
If all the icons were of exclusively religious significance, the religious populace would agree that they are a theology in colour, representing the gospel artistically and reflecting images of holy and heroic Christians.
Secular history took over iconography to falsify the true expression of divine contemplation. The loss of this unique cultural expression would have a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of the community. Discover how CyArk uses 3D documentation to empower local experts. What do the Moai Statues Represent? Discover the iconic monuments of Rapa Nui. By CyArk. What are the Moai? The ahu platforms , with their moai statues are the iconic monuments of Rapa Nui. What do they represent?
It is time, therefore, to recognise that such public monuments are not neutral. They are created for particular ends and convey particular, often problematic, narratives.
All too often, they do not so much teach history as bowdlerise the Past. For instance, there may be a monument to the animals who died in two world wars, but the suggestion in that a mosque should be built in London to commemorate the thousands of Muslims who were then fighting and dying for Britain was roundly dismissed.
No wonder only 22 per cent of the public appreciate that Muslims fought for Britain in those conflicts. Monuments, by their emphases and absences, distort history as much as they inform it. The narratives they intrude into the Present about power structures, values, and too often violence need to be challenged. Featured image credit: Photo by James Eades on Unsplash. Your email address will not be published. Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email. Search for:. As far as science can measure, humans represent the highest creation on this planet. Moreover, modern psychology reports that human potentials stand unlimited, which promises an enlightened, grand future. Humanity must mature and realize that every individual has a right to life, liberty and freedom. No race ranks higher than another, but only differs in qualities, attributes and characteristics.
Engaging in violence only creates more violence and escalates more conflict that never ends. Should local governments transfer these statues to special historical cemeteries instead of keeping them in highly visible areas?
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