Durban - There were some intense reflection and dialogue created at the opening of the Proclamation 73 exhibition at the Durban Art Gallery on Monday.
The exhibition was initiated by Zara Julius and Chandra Frank.
It explores the family archives of people racialised as coloured and Indian in Durban under the 1950 Group Areas Act.
Inspired by their own family histories, Julius and Frank set out to collect family photos of everyday lived experiences. Proclamation 73 portrays narratives on the meaning of loss, kinship and home through drawing on the family album.
The presented collection includes photos of weddings, beach days, ballroom dance contests, street portraits, and other snapshots.
Guest speaker Bronwynne Anderson said she did not realise how important pictures and the preserving of family albums were. She said there are so many culturally enriching stories we have.
The exhibition portrayed a wide variety of images, archival materials, and selected work from the collection of Afrapix documentary photographers Peter McKenzie and Rafs Mayet.
Mayet said people who had been moved from Warwick Avenue died of broken hearts. Mayet said the pictures tell of a tale and showed the new generation how their parents and grandparents lived in a cohesive society.
Jeewa Rajgopaul, a guest speaker and photographer, said people did everything to maintain their identity when the group areas act came about. He shared an emotional story on how he lost his friends.
"I grew up in Clairwood where racism did not exist. When we were being moved my best friends went to Wentworth, my aunt to Merebank and my family to Chatsworth. That trauma or the question of why my friends could not come with me lingered in my mind for decades until I understood what apartheid was about," Rajgopaul said.
The exhibition is open to the public from 10 December until 15 February.