Two years ago, a fire that ripped through the University of Cape Town saw the iconic Jagger Library left in the ashes. Now, the library has begun a new chapter with a book made from those very ashes!
Cape Town, South Africa (24 April, 2023) — It’s been two years since the University of Cape Town saw its ‘jewel in the crown’ library lost due to a runaway wildfire.
A sacred space, the Jagger Library was home to beloved, historic and rare books, archives, newspapers and collections, including the African Studies Collection that held some of the continent and country’s most precious histories. It was nothing short of a knowledge-seeker’s treasure trove and volunteers worked tirelessly to salvage what they could.
“[The collection held] irreplaceable reminders of where we have come from and who came before us.” —UCT.
However, despite the grief of accepting one incredible chapter lost, another has begun for the library—one that will see stories quite literally rise from the ashes. The university shares:
“Two years after that fateful afternoon, UCT interim vice-chancellor (VC) Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy; the executive director of UCT Libraries, Ujala Satgoor, and other dignitaries gathered adjacent to the Jagger Library site to commemorate the much-loved space and usher in a new beginning.”
Here, Project ‘Stories from the Ashes’ welcomed the first of many works to come: ‘Stories from the Ashes—Africa’s Story Through the Last Millennium’, the accumulation of the treasures lost.
The single book holds reprinted excerpts and visuals puzzling together parts of Africa’s identity puzzle through many themes, but not in any conventional fashion.
It was printed entirely from ink created from the ashes, an ode to the initial plan to create multiple blank books from the fire’s debris to be refilled.
The project will see numerous works repopulate the spaces that held the famous collection before. Of the first book, executive director of UCT Libraries, Ujala Satgoor shared:
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“The book also represents the commitment and tenacity of the individuals and professionals behind the scenes who were tasked with sourcing materials from the continent and carefully curating collections of the continent and for the continent…While fire may destroy, it also gives birth to new life.”
Source: The Unversity of Cape Town in partnership with DSTv
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