August 24, 2006
By Lucille Davie
AN innovative architectural project for the old Sans Souci cinema in Kliptown will see the building evolve along with the community's needs and commitment.
Architect Thorsten Deckler of 26'10 South Architects, calls the building a "beautiful ruin". Although now just chunks of concrete, from the remains of its first floor level it offers a view of the historic suburb of Kliptown, a collection of untidy, ramshackle houses and shacks.
The project is unusual in that it does not start with the building, but instead, according to the architects, "it develops and gives the 'idea' of [the] cinema new meaning over time, through a number of events and incremental architectural interventions that reconstruct the memory of the Sans Souci and project it into the future".
The Vuyani Dance Theatre dancers rehearsing in the ruin
(Photo: 26'10 South Architects)
In 2002 some 125 interviews were conducted with the community, and the results "confirmed that the Sans Souci cinema occupied a powerful place in the memory of many Sowetans". The community also felt that the rebuilding of the cinema would bring "increased opportunities for employment, education, recreation and entertainment" to the depressed community of Kliptown.
Building on this, the architects plan to redevelop the cinema as a "community-based heritage project", or "a living archive".
There have been community and dance workshops held in the ruin, and it has become a favourite venue for filming music videos. But the process is slow, relying on a set of different parties coming together, and of course, the necessary finance.
History of cinema
Sans Souci, which is French for "without worries", has a colourful history. Although the date of its beginnings is unknown, it went from being an iron cowshed, to a dance hall, and in 1948, it became a cinema. It's believed that plans for the 16 June 1976 student riots were hatched within its four walls.
During the apartheid decades from the 1950s to the '80s it was the only cinema in Soweto where blacks could watch movies.
The suburb of Kliptown dates back to 1903, when it was settled by a mix of Indians, blacks and coloureds, moved from Brickfields (now Newtown). Kliptown fell outside the municipal boundaries of the city (it is 25km from the city centre), and subsequently developed an independent spirit with its multi-racial composition.
Kliptown is most famous for the 1955 Congress of the People gathering, held on a dusty field behind Union Street, where, over two days, delegates ratified the Freedom Charter. That field has now been turned into the R110-million Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, opened in June last year by President Thabo Mbeki.
Gene Duiker, chairperson of the Kliptown Our Town Trust and the person who in 2003 approached professor Lindsay Bremner, formerly honorary professorial research fellow at the Wits School of Arts and now visiting professor at the Temple University in Philadelphia in the US, with the idea of doing something with the ruin, describes the cinema as “an institution”. He says people of Kliptown never needed to ask directions to a particular street but rather how far their destination was from Sans Souci.
The Sans Souci cinema in its heyday
(Photo: 26'10 South Architects)
There are two versions surrounding the demise of the cinema. Thorsten says a fire was started in 1994 in the cinema by immigrants living in a nearby squatter camp. They planned to strip the building, which was subsequently done. Duiker says the cinema wasn't destroyed by a fire; rather it was not being used much by 1994, and squatters moved in, stripping the building to use the materials for shack building.
Ahmed Ballim, who died last year at the age of 78, ran the cinema from the late 1960s, renting movies from African Consolidated Films, according to his brother, Ismail.
He says the cinema used to run on a generator, as electricity was introduced to Kliptown only in the late 1980s. It used to seat about 350 people, with 30 seats in the gallery, and benches for the children.
Ballim says it was very popular, along with another cinema in the suburb, the Grand Theatre. But from the mid-1970s when television was introduced, its popularity gradually diminished, and once everyone had electricity and access to television, its attendance dropped off rapidly.
Plans for reconstruction
The project sees the old cinema being transformed into a multi-functional site, with the old ruin being reconstructed as a cinema and theatre.
The architects plan to have film screening, film and dance festivals, dance training and film productions that, they hope, will allow visitors and residents to "actively participate in excavating and remembering/recreating/imagining the history of Kliptown and the Sans Souci, as the cinema is incrementally rebuilt".
Deckler says that the project has been conceptualised in five phases, ending in 2009. Phase one would secure the ruin by stabilising it, paint walls, clean the site, and secure electricity for the building.
Deckler hopes that by doing this it would "bring into the consciousness of the local community that it is an amazing space".
Just by implementing this intervention, Deckler hopes that an events programme can be compiled, which could include a summer open-air film festival.
Deckler says R20 000 has been raised for this phase – raised by Bremner who approached the Lotto, the Arts and Culture Trust and liaised with City officials - but a further R20 000 is needed to complete the phase.
The plan would be to involve the local community by getting them to clean up the ruin. "We want them to get ownership of the site and look after it, making it sustainable."
Phase two would see a roof, steps, paving, gates and a basketball half-court built. Solar panels for electricity would be installed. This would make it possible for community functions like weddings or church services to be held in the ruin.
Phase three would see the building of a dance cinema, a foyer, a bar, training and change rooms, ticket office, and trees being planted. "The ruin would become a lobby, with a proper cinema," says Deckler. A canopy and step seats would make it possible for outside functions to be held.
These would be specifically for the Vuyani Dance Theatre, now operating from the Dance Factory in Newtown. The additions would be based on the dimensions of practice rooms they're using at present.
The house alongside the cinema would be turned into offices for the dance company.
Gregory Maqoma, founder and director of Vuyani, says it will be a good thing to move to Kliptown. "Most of the dancers are from Soweto, and 50 percent of our audience is also from Soweto." He sees it as a means of developing the arts in the underprivileged areas of the city, and likes the idea of having both a theatre and a cinema in one venue.
Vuyani has held several outreach dance sessions with the local children in the ruin.
The fourth and fifth phases would see dance studios built, landscaping and the final finishes to the cinema being undertaken.
Various bits of funding have been raised, but until more funding comes available, the project is on hold. Deckler estimates that to complete the project, some R20-million is needed.
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