Author: Modiegi Mafalo – Masters Fellow at AVReQ
On the 29th of April, AVReQ hosted an in-house presentation by Dr Alésha Bredell titled “Towards a Restitution of the Afrikaaps/ns Archive: Discussing Praxis.” The session brought together staff, students, and researchers for an engaging and deeply reflective conversation on language, archives, restitution, and the ongoing negotiation of contested histories within the Stellenbosch University context.
Dr Bredell, a researcher and recent PhD graduate in Visual Arts (Visual Studies) at Stellenbosch University and an affiliate of AVReQ, presented work that explores how art can function as a mode of engaging troubled histories and opening conversations around colonial legacies, epistemic injustice, and institutional memory.
Situated partly in the aftermath of the 2015 student protests, the research centres the neglected, denied, and creolised dimensions of the Afrikaaps/ns archive and reflects on how language continues to shape experiences of belonging, exclusion, and identity on campus. Throughout the presentation, Dr Bredell moved carefully between historical analysis, artistic practice, archival encounters, and personal reflection, illustrating the layered and often emotionally charged nature of this work.
One of the most compelling aspects of the session was its emphasis on process rather than certainty. Drawing on a critically engaged, arts-informed, and post-qualitative methodology, the project unfolded through interviews, archival research, artist collaborations, workshops, and campus walkabouts. Rather than approaching the archive as a neutral space, the presentation highlighted the archive as a site of negotiation, omission, discovery, and confrontation.
The discussion repeatedly returned to the question of language and power. Dr Bredell reflected on the ways in which Afrikaans has historically undergone processes of standardisation and whitening, often obscuring the language’s longer and more complex histories. At the same time, the presentation resisted simplistic conclusions or easy resolutions. Instead, it opened space for thinking about contradiction, discomfort, and the difficulty of engaging histories that continue to shape the present.
The conversation that followed extended these reflections even further. Audience members engaged critically with questions surrounding Kaaps, hyperlocal forms of language, institutional redress, shame, memory, and the politics of naming. Discussions also explored the limits of visual and symbolic restitution, questioning whether renaming buildings or introducing new artworks can meaningfully address deeper histories of exclusion and colonial violence.
Particularly striking was Dr Bredell’s openness about positionality and the personal dimensions of the research process. Reflecting on her own experiences as a white Afrikaans speaker working within these archives, she spoke about the necessity of self-confrontation, relearning, and remaining open to being changed through the research itself. In this sense, the presentation modelled a form of scholarship grounded not in mastery or certainty, but in attentiveness, reflexivity, and ongoing dialogue.
One of the presentation’s concluding reflections captured this sentiment succinctly: “There is no decolonized moment to arrive at, with no measure of success…” Rather than presenting decolonisation as a goal that can be fully achieved, Dr Bredell emphasised it as an ongoing and unfinished practice that demands continual engagement, critical reflection, and openness to change.
This sentiment resonated strongly throughout the session, capturing the presentation’s central argument that restitution is not a destination but an ongoing practice of engagement, questioning, and collective reflection.
Beyond the specific questions raised about language, archives, and institutional memory, the presentation encouraged attendees to consider what it means to live with difficult histories without seeking easy resolution. It demonstrated how creative and interdisciplinary research can create openings for dialogue, curiosity, and critical self-reflection. In a context where questions of restitution, belonging, and historical accountability remain urgent, Dr Bredell’s work offered a thoughtful reminder that meaningful engagement often begins not with answers, but with a willingness to remain in conversation. Dr Bredell’s presentation offered an important reminder that restitution is not a singular act or endpoint, but an ongoing and unfinished process of engagement, reflection, and negotiation.
Modiegi Mafalo is a master’s student in Sociology at Stellenbosch University, focusing on governance and policing in post-apartheid South Africa. Her research explores how residents of historically marginalised townships, particularly Alexandra, narrate and make sense of policing in their everyday lives. Driven by a commitment to centring community knowledge in debates about safety, justice, and governance, she engages in critical qualitative inquiry that challenges state-centred narratives.