Rewriting our spaces
A place for all. Built, not inherited.
Visual Redress
Making space for everyone
When the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences opened its doors in 1956, it served a narrow slice of South Africa's population. Its buildings, symbols, and spaces reflected that exclusion, and for decades, many who studied and worked here felt it in their bones.
That is changing.
Since the early 2000s, we have been deliberately reshaping our physical and symbolic environments. The goal is not to erase the past, but to acknowledge it honestly and to build something more truthful in its place.
Why It Matters
Every building tells a story
Every name, image, and inscription signals who belongs — and who does not. For much of its early history, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Tygerberg, established in 1956 under apartheid, reflected the exclusions of its time. For those who did not fit that narrow mould, it could feel unwelcoming, even alienating.
That legacy cannot simply be declared over; it must be actively addressed. Visual redress is not about erasure, but expansion — restoring missing narratives, affirming dignity, and ensuring that all who enter feel they belong.
"An ongoing process with no endpoint — a continual commitment to more honest, inclusive, and just representation."
Symbolic Anchor
The Rock / Die Klip
Die Beiteltjie, 1974 →
Since 1974, a slate stone at the entrance to the Clinical Building carried a single Afrikaans inscription, an extract from the poem Die Beiteltjie by N.P. van Wyk Louw, meaning "a chisel must be capable of breaking stone for it to be a chisel." It was meant to capture our ideology.
For decades, it did. But as we changed, and as South Africa changed, the stone began to tell a different story.
"The nature of the rock, its purpose, its symbol, its impact has been questioned by students and staff and members of the community who visit the Tygerberg Campus. In this regard, it was decided to expand on the story of the rock."
The intention was not to erase the past, but to transform its meaning — preserving history while signalling change and reshaping the perception of all who enter the Faculty.
In 2022, award-winning South African artist Jenna Burchell was commissioned to lead the redress.
1974
Inscribed
Questioned
Re-read
2022
Reimagined
Hardekraaltjie
The land beneath holds older stories
Before the Faculty was built, before Tygerberg Hospital was established, a community called Tiervlei had its roots here. Their cemetery, Hardekraaltjie, served this community from 1909 to 1946. When apartheid's Group Areas Act forced the community's removal, the cemetery was closed. The land was transferred to Stellenbosch University in 1971. The graves remained, largely forgotten.
Today, the Faculty and University are working with the descendants of the Tiervlei community, many of whom now live in Ravensmead, to memorialise Hardekraaltjie with the dignity it deserves. Oral histories were recorded in a publication. Archival material is being gathered. A memorial installation is planned.
1909
Hardekraaltjie cemetery established for the Tiervlei community
1946
Cemetery closed
1971
Land transferred to Stellenbosch University; graves remain
Today
Memorialisation in partnership with descendants in Ravensmead
Written Commitment
The Faculty Charter
Visual redress is not only expressed in stone and art. It is also written into our foundational documents. The Faculty Charter, the first of its kind at Stellenbosch University, adopted when the Faculty was 63 years old, acknowledges the history of exclusion directly and commits the institution, in writing, to the values of South Africa's Constitution.
A document of accountability, not just aspiration — a public statement, made permanent, that names the past honestly and binds us to a better future.
At The Entrance
The Preamble to the Constitution
Afrikaans
isiXhosa
English
An artwork at the Faculty entrance presents the preamble to South Africa's Constitution in three languages. It is not decoration. It is a daily reminder of the society we exist to serve, and the values we have committed to reflect.
Voices
Stewards of this work
Dr Florence de Vries
Former Visual Redress project lead
Dr Therese Fish
Vice-Dean: Clinical Services and Social Impact
Not erasure. Expansion.
A place for everyone who walks through these doors.