Spoils of Wits protests celebrated as instant history in museum of strife

23 October 2016 - 02:00 By MONICA LAGANPARSAD

One man's trash is another man's treasure at the University of Witwatersrand. From the battlefields of the clashes between students, police and private security, the Origins Museum on campus is collecting rubber bullet shell casings, spent stun grenades and bits of rock and paving thrown at police.Students and academics have been invited to share their experiences of being teargassed and shot at with rubber bullets, and how they in turn armed themselves over the past four weeks of the #FeesMustFall movement.The project is housed in the museum and curated by Dr Alex Schoeman, head of farming community archaeology.story_article_left1''We wanted a space to allow students to narrate their experience and be able to heal ... we are deeply traumatised," she said.The exhibition, which contains pieces collected by students, includes teargas canisters, pieces of concrete bins used as weapons and cobblestones ripped out of the pathways outside the Origins Centre and thrown at police outside the Great Hall. There are also cable ties and posters from the failed general assembly two weeks ago."We struggled to find more because the students were collecting most of it. They said they wanted to show it to their children one day," said Schoeman.For each category - rubber bullets, teargas, stone tools and manufacturing, and peace - there is a black A5 notebook in which students, academics and the general public are invited to share experiences and advice anonymously.In the book on teargas, one student advised on how best to deal with it: "The lubricants of condoms help to neutralise the teargas effect on your skin. So the condoms were wrapped around people's fingers and rubbed on faces or eyelids."Schoeman said the exhibition was documenting a great historical event. Part two would focus on peace accord results...

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