Constitution Hill, Johannesburg

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Extreme conditions often give rise to bizarre artforms, especially when there are few materials to hand - as evidenced by the unlikely 'blanket art' that evolved in Johannesburg's notorious No.4 prison.

Sundays were days of 'leisure' in the prison, and prisoners were left with time on their hands and precious little to do with it. Goodness only knows who came up with the idea of using their blankets to create artwork, but it's certainly as original a means of creative expression as you'll come across anywhere on your travels!

A strictly hierarchical social order of prisoners evolved in the prison, and cells were run by gangsters who were granted preferential treatment by warders - and particularly inmates - in return for protection. My theory is that the artform probably started when prisoners attempted to curry favour with the kingpins by giving them extra blankets which were then used to create makeshift chairs (see the third photo), and that this slowly evolved into a more complex artform, such as the surreal blanket tank pictured above. But that's just my personal hunch, and sadly I haven't been able to find out more on this intriguing form of artistic expression.

One of the highlights of visiting No.4 was the superb use of blanket art to illustrate the sleeping arrangements in the cells - looking at the second photo, the sense of people asleep under their blankets is uncanny!

You either love or hate the South African flag, and having not really liked it to start with, I have to confess that it's grown on me. This is apparently the largest beaded flag in South Africa, which is prominently displayed on the wall behind the bench of Constitutional Court judges: if you look closely, you can actually find the names of the women who created the flag embroidered into its margins.

As parents and school kids discovered during the run up to the 2010 World Cup (when schoolkids seemed to spend weeks on end drawing the flags of the participating nations), it's a bugger to draw and even harder to face paint. Vexillologists will tell you - and I can say this with confidence as we have one in the family - it's regularly hung the wrong way around, even from government buildings (the black triangle should go to the left).

Schedule 1 of the Constitution states the following:

"The national flag is rectangular; it is one and a half times as long as it is wide.

1.It is black, gold, green, white, chilli red and blue.
2.It has a green Y-shaped band that is one fifth as wide as the flag. The centre lines of the band start in the top and bottom corners next to the flag post, converge in the centre of the flag, and continue horizontally to the middle of the free edge.
3.The green band is edged, above and below in white, and towards the flag post end, in gold. Each edging is one fifteenth as wide as the flag.
4.The triangle next to the flag post is black.
5.The upper horizontal band is chilli red and the lower horizontal band is blue. These bands are each one third as wide as the flag"

Interestingly, there is no defined symbology associated with the flag, although it does contain the three colours of the ANC flag (black, green and yellow).

If nothing else, it is a darn sight more cheerful than the rather dull orange, white and blue vertical stripes of the old South African flag!

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This moving place allows you to appreciate the wonder of the transition of South Africa to democracy. Its history spans Paul Kruger's construction of a fort in 1899, the Anglo-Boer war at the turn of the 20th century, the apartheid years, all the way through to present time, and the strong defence of the progressive South Africa Constitution. Here you can see the places where people like Nelson Mandela and Ghandi were imprisoned, as well as as a complete contrast, the Constitutional Court where the right of gay people to get married was tested and won.

The architecture and art is moving and beautiful, and pays tribute to the suffering and sacrifices that many people made in the apartheid years. The Constitutional Court has been built out of the bricks of part of the old jail (the Awaiting Trial block). 2-hour tours are available and well-worth it. They are included in the entrance price and run at various times during the day.

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Cosntitution Hill is the new home of he Constitutional Court. Here is possible to see exhibitions of the struggle against apartheid, and the adoption of the new and progressive constitution. Open daily from 09.00 till 17.00, and the entrance fee is R15.

It is the site of the notorious Old Fort prison complex, Constitution Hill is the new home of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
The old prison cells have been converted into an interactive museum, and a state-of-the-art audiovisual system shows footage of former prisoners recounting their experiences in the jails. Photographic, audio and video material has been put together to capture the rich heritage of the site. Artefacts of prison life are also on display, including recreations of the blanket and soap sculptures made by the inmates.

Constitution Hill is the home of the Constitutional Court and it is built on the site of an old prison. The prison was called Old Fort Prison Complex (aka Number Four). Many political activists including Mahatma Gandhi and Mandela were kept here for periods. The prison itself did not close until 1983.

When we got there we thought the place was closed because there was only one car in the parking lot. But we got a great tour of the area with the guide David. He took us through the history of the prison with his great knowledge and he could tell us a lot about the past but also about the complex today. We started at the old fort entrance and the barrier that is built around the fort and we were told how the prisoners were treated when they first arrived. We looked at old cells where we could look at sleeping arrangements, isolation cells and there were also small rooms with TV’s where we could hear stories told by people that were kept here.

Symbolism plays a vital role here. Part of the prison was torn down to make room for the court itself. To show that the injustice of the past can be a part of the justice in the future, the bricks have been re-used in the new court house. The stairwells to the building have been preserved and two are even incorporated in the court building itself. The logo of the court shows people in shelter under a tree discussing and it represent the past way of doing things. This can also be seen in the lobby of the court house where pillars are skew to represent the tree trunks and natural light comes in through the ceiling and the lights are formed like leaves.

It might sound boring to see a prison and a court house but I learned a lot from it. This place of terror shut down only about 20 years ago and it makes it frightening. I think that it was amazing to see how they have used symbolism to bring the past with them in order to prevent that stuff like this happens again.

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(work in progress)