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UCT reflects on resilience and renewal five years after the Jagger Library fire with “Opportunity in Loss” exhibition.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) is marking five years since a devastating fire that destroyed parts of the Jagger Library and several other campus buildings.
A commemorative exhibition titled “Opportunity in Loss” is now reflecting on the tragedy while focusing on renewal and future possibilities.
Five years ago, flames tore through parts of the University of Cape Town campus, causing extensive destruction to the Jagger Library, once considered the heart of academic life, and damaging priceless archival material.
Now, the university is using the anniversary to reflect on both the loss and the resilience that followed.
The Executive Director of the University of Cape Town Libraries, Ujala Satgoor, says the fire created an opportunity in loss, allowing the institution to rethink libraries and archives.
“We’re looking at what the disaster, the fire, has thrown up for us as an institution to rethink libraries, to rethink archives, the inclusion of other voices within libraries and archives. And how do we then reimagine the Jagger as an African library of note for the continent and of the continent? Not just a quiet scholarly space for a few, but opening it up so that we can celebrate African identity, memory, and a space for creative expression,” says Satgoor.
Among those attending the exhibition were Andrew and Jansue Fulton, who shared how the 2021 fire left a lasting impression on their son and highlighted the important role libraries play as safe spaces for learning and community support.
“We were driving by on the day of the fire, and our son saw it, and he hasn’t stopped speaking about it since he was three. Every time we drive by UCT, he talks about the burning library. So when we saw there was a tour we just wanted to see and be there so he could see that. I guess for me, libraries in general are just an important part of our communities. I know I grew up as a library kid. I went to libraries from a single-parent home, that’s where I stayed until the sun went down and then walked safely home from there. And I volunteer at my son’s library. It’s just a really safe space, and it should be a place for learning,” says Fulton.
Former 1968 University of Cape Town student John Fulton says seeing the damaged library was emotional.
“I walked in here, I saw this, and it just took me back. This is just unbelievable. Just staggering. I’ve seen house fires. We have big fires in Canada, like forest fires. And buildings go. And it’s sad, but it’s fantastic that it’s going to be restored in, I believe, a new condition, to reflect the new reality of Southern Africa. Yeah, so that’s my emotional story from today,” says Fulton.
The exhibition remains open to the public until 15 May.
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