Victims of violence must live with the memories of their experiences. When this violence has been committed in a political context,
the anguished questions of "Do you remember what you did to me? What did your action mean to you?" can seldom be asked.
In her work, Sue Williamson attempts to re-contextualise issues of contemporary South African history. By mediating through art and the myriad images and information offered for public consumption in the mass media, she tries to give dispassionate readings and offers a focus and new opportunities for engagement.
During the long proceedings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings in South Africa, there were few moments when there was a direct confrontation between victim and accused. In an interactive video work, Sue Williamson looks at two of these moments. In 'Can't forget, can't remember', actual recorded transcripts from the hearings are played over text and flashback images of these occasions. To hear the voices of the speakers and to get the action to advance, the viewer must move
the cursor over the screen. Using the mouse casts the viewer as a kind of judge, attempting to read between the lines of what is being uttered - sentences can be repeated, be cut short, or layered one over the other. What becomes apparent, as the gaps between the recollections of victim and perpetrator emerge, is the flawed nature of memory, and of the whole process of the trc.
background notes to extract 1:
Jeff Benzien/Ashley Forbes
Captain Jeff Benzien was a security policeman based in the Western Cape notorious for his brutal treatment of the political activists who fell into his hands. His boast was that he could 'break' any prisoner in less than thirty minutes with his torture methods. In July 1997, Benzien appeared in front of the TRC in Cape Town. One of the victims who questioned Benzien was Ashley Forbes.
Forbes' memories of their earlier interchanges were very different from Benzien's.
background notes to extract 2:
Dawie Ackerman/Gcinikhaya Makoma
In July 1993, five young members of the apla - the Azanian People's Liberation Army, attacked the congregation of St James Church, in Kenilworth, Cape Town, and eleven people died. Marita Ackerman, the wife of Dawie Ackerman, was one of them. At the TRC, Ackerman asks the hitman, Gcinikhaya Makoma, if he can recall shooting his wife. But Makoma can remember only that "I fired some shots". Makoma, the only member of the group convicted of the attack, was granted amnesty in June 1998.
– Sue Williamson
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Computer design Tracy Gander, soundtrack Arnold Erasmus
Sue Williamson ° 1941 Lichfield, UK
Lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa
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