THE MEMORY BOX PROJECT (foundation and video project)
The Memory Box Interviews and The Memory Foundation
“We are called to join the war against HIV/AIDS with the same and even greater resolve than was shown in the fight against apartheid.” —Nelson Mandela, Friday, 28 November, 2003
In 2003, out of their basements and their living rooms, activist filmmakers Jenny Hunter and Cati Weinek developed an idea to expand the concept of a Memory Box, to include a video component, to record peoples’ lives as they faced death, by putting them on camera with “living,” and lasting messages for their loved ones.
Working in conjunction with HIVSA, an HIV support organisation at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto for the purpose of screening participants, the film-makers conducted over a 130 interviews on camera.
Each participant received a copy of their Memory Interview for their families, and a general archive of interviews was set up, with the idea of someday creating a “Holocust Museum” in and around the Aids pandemic. To that end, these initial interviews became the basis of an exhibition at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, curated by award-winning South African artists Clive van den Berg and Churchill Madikida.
While the main purpose of the interviews was to prevent the breakdown of family and of cultural histories, the film-makers soon discovered that the interviews provided a tool for individual transformation in dealing with the magnitude of the disease. Memory work created a platform for reflection, for self-expression, and for communication among family members.
Partners
Film-makers, Jenny Hunter and Cati Weinek initiated the Memory Box Interview project in 2003. In 2006, they conducted 130 interviews with HIV affected and infected Sowetans resulting in an exhibition at Constitution Hill. Other work together includes two documentaries on working with men to stop abuse against women; and the controversial ‘Uranium Road’ (2007) about the role and history of nuclear power in South Africa. Amy J. Moore has joined the team as a Founding Member and Director of the Memory Foundation.