Memories of indenture: An analysis of representations of indentured labour at the Aapravasi Ghat and the 1860 heritage centre

Museums, memorials and interpretation centres increasingly address histories of exploitation and oppression as part of their efforts to commemorate past traumas through memory work. This article examines how the Aapravasi Ghat in Mauritius and the 1860 Heritage Centre in South Africa produce memories of indenture. Indentured labour was a particular form of contract labour that spread African, Chinese, European and Indian populations and others across four continents. This article analyses these sites as opportunities for connective memory through a transnational oceanic framework. The article’s focus is a comparative analysis of the exhibition content at both centres, showing how current exhibitions foreground memory narratives tied to the formation of democratic and postcolonial nation-states and considers the possibilities for viewing new diasporic memory networks across the Indian Ocean. This includes the network of connections due to colonial practices and machinery, a focus on the cultural memories of diasporic networks and the possibilities of contemporary interpretations of historical materials. Taking a transnational oceanic perspective adds a layer to interpreting the possible representations of memories of indenture and how we can imagine these connections differently. This layer of transnational memory of indenture is already evident in other scholarly and artistic instances where indenture is represented. The article proposes that museums should begin to engage with the implications and possibilities for their exhibitions and practice to consider representing memories of indenture differently.