The temporary exhibition SOUTH-SOUTH – Memories in Present Tense is made up of 4 core themes that parallel a history that occurred in many countries, but more specifically connects Argentine State terrorism with the South Africa’s Apartheid regime, as well as both transitions to democracy.

When observed in parallel, the exhibition communicates to the world the universality of crimes against humanity, extermination mechanisms, resistance practices within detention centers, crimes denounced by victims’ family members until the time of conviction, victims and organizations that work in solidarity and also the different alternatives each society chose in order to create democracy. The central themes are: HISTORICAL CONTEXT, THE TESTIMONIES, THE RESISTANCE and THE TRANSITIONS.

Both ESMA and Robben Island are icons of the suffering and resistance of people who experienced pain, torture and death, and they are also well as being places recognized as World Heritage sites. They are evidence of the barbaric actions of men against other men, but they also prove the human spirit of collective resistance during dark times in human history.

A dialogue is proposed between the two Sites of Memory, narrating from the Southern Hemisphere, the universality of crimes against humanity –in this case, through State Terrorism and Apartheid– and teh reasons why both countries became global examples of human rights cases. They are also two essential places for the transmission of memory to the new generations.

Robben Island has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The ESMA Museum and Site of Memory is on the Tentative List for its current nomination as a World Heritage Site.

The international exhibition was inaugurated in South Africa under the name South-South: Memories in Present Tense

The exhibition organized by the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory and the Robben Island Museum creates a dialogue bridge between places that have a shared history: the one of crimes against humanity.

Created in conjunction by the Robben Island Museum, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory, the exhibition South-South: Memories in Present Tense was inaugurated in Cape Town, South Africa, on March 28, the centennial of Nelson Mandela’s birth. It was the first international temporary exhibition made by the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory.

On Friday the 29th, a seminar that consisted of several conferences was held at the University of the Western Cape, and the Argentine and South African cases were presented using the testimonies of survivors as well as descriptions of resistance and the transition to democracy. These themes are also addressed by the temporary exhibition.