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Preserving Genadendal’s rich cultural history Writer & Photographer Tweet Gainsborough-Waring
B
orn and bred in the picturesque Overberg town of Genadendal, Dr Isaac Balie remembers playing on the banks of the river, skinny-dipping at Stroomdrift’s pool, playing traditional country games like kennetjie, marbles and vrot patat. All of which left an indelible mark on his memory. As a result, this former curator and director of the Genadendal Mission Museum grew up with a love of the town’s culture and traditions, along with a burning desire to save them for future generations. It was a goal that saw Isaac, even as a young lad, frittering around under beds and in dusty attics, always on the hunt for artefacts that were integral to the daily lives of those who lived in the town. After school he studied teaching, got married and returned to his home town to teach at the Emil Weder High School, ultimately being promoted to principal. Throughout his teaching career, his passion to preserve the culture and history of his home town always burnt bright. He knew the Moravian church had precious artefacts stored in the attics of its precinct, but it was those sourced from the community – used, chipped or cracked – that were of most value to him, as these carried with them the essence of life as it had been. “We had what we had, and that was enough,” he said. He had noted with sorrow that antique collectors and auctioneers would visit the town in search of saleable pieces, and of course if you had nothing to eat that day, the sale of a chair or washbasin for fifty bucks was very appealing. In 1963 he started working with the Moravian bishop to expand the collection in order to start a museum.
All the while Isaac was furthering his studies in the subject at Stellenbosch University, where he graduated with a doctorate in social and cultural history. Now all he had to do was to put his knowledge and qualifications to good use in creating a museum. He needed exposure, so he invited people interested in preserving cultural heritage, among them, architect Gawie Fagan and the then director of the South African Museum, Dr Frank Bradlow to visit Genadendal. He also invited Dr Douglas Hey from the Provincial Authorities. He showed all of them around the dilapidated church precinct. In 1980, all 25 church buildings were declared National monuments – truly a red letter day. In 1988, as part of Genadendal’s 250th birthday celebrations, the Superintendent of the church asked Isaac to put up a display of the town’s history in the Boys’ Hostel, a double-storey building on the church precinct. This was the beginning of a museum. Within two weeks he had conceptualised the themes and knew where they would go. The town has a rich artisanal history, producing the first knives in South Africa, having one of the best water mills in the country and, in the early 19th century, a printing press – the only one in the Cape that could print music. Many historical objects had been left untouched and covered in dust, like the Cape’s oldest ox wagon and fire engine. Genadendal had also been home to the country’s first infant school, the first teacher training college and one of the Cape’s best libraries, while the original Moravian mission church housed the oldest pipe organ in South Africa. To showcase these facts, he set up his exhibition based on themes relevant to the town’s activities, all of which were put into a world and South African context. He
A retired Dr Balie welcomes visitors to the Genadendal Mission Museum complex.
later established working exhibits, including a printing press, pottery, spinning, weaving, paper-making, knife-making, carpentry and wheat milling in other buildings within the church precinct. Unfortunately this museum got very little support from the Provincial government – the main budget being reserved for “white” museums. Isaac was shattered to the core and made no bones about his feelings towards the then government. He even went so far as to tell a visitor that lack of funding was a result of Afrikaner selfishness. Two years later he received a call from a lawyer asking him if he was the man who had made this statement. Always forthright and honest, he said yes. In an ironic twist, the lawyer replied that Dr Hendriene Lamprecht (the visitor to whom he had made the remark) had died and bequeathed R1.2 million to the museum. Around this time there were several high points. Not only was the museum’s content declared National Cultural Treasure in 1991, it also won the National Sanlam Trophy for restoration work. Isaac considers one of the highlights of his life to have been when he was requested to submit a proposal to then President Mandela’s office in 1995 for the renaming of the presidential residence in Cape Town. After it was announced that the house would be named Genadendal, Mr Mandela came to visit the mission station on 10 October 1995, where Isaac gave him a guided tour. The museum flourished and won awards from various organisations such as the SA Academy of Arts and Science (2008), the Department of Cultural Affairs’ trophy for Best Museum in the Cape Province (2015) and the SA Heritage Association (2016). Despite retiring a few years ago, this dynamic man just can’t seem to hold himself back from his overriding passion and is poised to publish another book on the social and cultural history of Genadendal. It is currently with Dutch publishers and should be released within the next three months. The proposed title for the book is Genadendal – a long walk through the history of the first mission station in the RSA. Richly illustrated, it covers historical events which were not included in his first book, Die Geskiedenis van Genadendal – 1738 -1988, published by Perskor in 1988. It is Isaac’s hope for the future that the museum will continue to flourish under the curatorship of his daughter, Judith. As a committed Christian he attributes its success over the years to his unflinching faith, quoting Ps 16:6, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance”.
Dr Isaac Balie in the museum with a mock-up of his latest book on the history of Genadendal.
