As one of the queer capitals of the world, Cape Town has a long history of out and loud queer culture that continues to refute narratives that queerness is an inherently ‘UnAfrican’ construct imposed by the West.
FILE: Queer people like Kewpie were bold and brave, dressing however they wanted to, doing whatever they wanted to, living however they wanted to and doing it with a sense of courageous glamour. Picture: facebook.com/GALA97
Lester Kiewit speaks to guests about the life of District Six’s queer icon, Kewpie, and how District Six’s queer community helped shape the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) activism in South Africa through being authentically and brazenly themselves against all odds.
One of the most prominent areas that shaped the history of the country has been Cape Town’s District Six – an area long thought to be a slum devoid of culture, purpose and community.
But through the historical lens of Kewpie, this changed.
The Kewpie collection is the personal photographic collection of Kewpie, a hairdresser and drag queen who lived in District Six.
What’s major about this is that through using Kewpie as a lens, theLGBTIQ+ destigmatisation was cemented.
Apartheid always demonised District Six as being this kind of slum with no culture, with nothing, and, I think, Kewpie and the Kewpie collection is really important because it begins to dismiss that and demystify that narrative around District Six being a slum without a sense of culture, without a sense of purpose and people who belong there… It tells us that, kind of, minute detail of the social life of District Six. It’s through the lens of a gay community in District Six but you’re also given a layered history of what ordinary people, and the connectivity of what ordinary people and the gay community was like in District Six.
Tina Smith, head of exhibitions – District Six Museum
This is not only important in terms of representation of a vibrant culture in the area, it lifts the silencing of queer voices from history and the way in which queerness shapes and subverts regressive societal norms – a key element in the beauty of South Africa’s Constitution.
A few years ago the District Six Museum held an exhibition in honor of the icon, Kewpie: Daughter of District Six, that helps unveil the vibrant life and culture of the area during the height of the Apartheid regime.
Along with Johannesburg’s GALA Queer Archive’s collection of photographs of Kewpie, this highlighted the diversity within District Six and the people who thrived in the area through their talent, lives and creativity.
It was always our dream to share these photographs [of Kewpie] which gives you just a glimpse into the queer history of District Six Museum and gives us a glimpse into the remarkable lives of Kewpie and her sisters… It’s amazing that Kewpie’s legacy continues to grow. Wherever we go, throughout the country, people are always just mesmerised by Kewpie’s legacy and that of her sisters.
Keval Harie, director – GALA Queer Archive
[Kewpie and her sisters] lived their lives with a level of authenticity to them and how they presented themselves in the world… and were celebrated for that very purpose within that community. There wasn’t, necessarily a shame attached to that even though, at many times, they lived this existence at huge costs to themselves.
Keval Harie, director – GALA Queer Archive
Kewpie’s life also highlighted the sense of community in District Six where, despite laws against the queer community, queer people not only lived by thrived.
These people were seen as pillars, and arguably the heart, of the community.
They were hairdressers, designers, chefs, models, dancers, business people and entertainers that reflected a sense of community and belonging.
Kewpie was a type of person who went down the road, it doesn’t matter if he wore a dress, if he wore a slack suit, and things like that, and that was the type of person he was and people accepted him.
Ismail “bolla” Buffkins, queer icon and Kewpie’s friend
[Queer people] were the best in everything… these people all had gifts, and things like that… These people were accepted by the people of District Six. They were all so well-known people.
Ismail “bolla” Buffkins, queer icon and Kewpie’s friend
[In District Six] there were so many avenues to express the fuilidty of your gender and there were many opportunities in District Six where these occasions could happen and express yourself.
Tina Smith, head of exhibitions – District Six Museum
Queer people like Kewpie were bold and brave, dressing however they wanted to, doing whatever they wanted to, living however they wanted to and doing it with a sense of courageous glamour that fiercely paved the way for the country’s historic anti-discriminatory laws that protect the rights of the girls and the gays years before many parts of the West.
This truly is what Pride represents – a celebration and assertion of identity in the face of societal, political and economic adversity.
The collection really gives that kind of sense of what Keval was talking about, the nuances of a close-knit community like District Six, and how, Bolla, so clearly pointed out, people had talent… It’s just amazing that talent that people had that rose above the odds of what was happening at a critical time in our political history where people could have this alternative reality in terms of creating a life and an expression of who they are.
Tina Smith, District Six Museum
Just being able to express yourself in a place, in a time, when we were threatened by every part of the society and, I would say, that Kewpie and Kewpie’s contemporaries were forerunners… they had a sense of themselves, a sense of belonging, and that’s what makes it so special.
Tina Smith, head of exhibitions – District Six Museum
Scroll up for the full interview.
This article first appeared on CapeTalk : How Kewpie and District Six’s queer community shaped what PRIDE means in SA
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