Rizqua Barnes, an accomplished wedding photographer in Cape Malay circles, will be displaying Islamic wedding images at the Bo-Kaap Museum for the next year.
The Send-Off, Interconnections of Culture and Faith displays images of the brides as they begin their new lives.
“This tradition is fading where the bride is seen off by the family, by the hadjies, while the older gentlemen do the Salawaat. When I started 14 years ago I did quite a few weddings where they followed this Cape Malay tradition,” said Ms Barnes.
“So this exhibit is about reminding people about our past, about our history, our culture and I wanted to share it with everybody. This send-off is something where you can experience sadness and joy at the same time. I’ve seen grown men cry, grandfathers and fathers because you know they are usually stern. It’s a beautiful experience to see how the in-laws throw the shawl over the brides shoulders, how her mother and father says goodbye to her while the new family welcomes her,” she said.
Ms Barnes’ first wedding gig had a bridal party of 56 people, and she also had to act as the event’s “organiser”. She has also captured images at traditional weddings in Johannesburg.
“We went to Rhodes Memorial to take the pictures because it was a massive group of people. I had to manage how they sit and stand and where. There was close to 1000 people at this wedding and it was a success as everyone was in a celebratory mood.They were even dishing the breyani with side plates and that’s not something you see at today’s wedding. Weddings today follow the latest fashion and they think the Malay traditions are ou-tyds (out dated),” she said.
Ms Barnes pictures the bride from the time she does her make-up in the morning to the time the bride and groom depart the reception in the evening.
“Being in the house with the aunties and the mothers is a fantastic feeling, it’s busy and there is so much joy. They fix the medora and make sure the bride and the bridesmaids are looking good, there’s so much instructions from everyone but it all works out,” she said.
Being a woman in a male-dominated industry was difficult, but Ms Barnes received assistance from her brother, Yaseen, as she collected wedding images weekly.
“Being in this field is quite intimidating but my brother assisted me for a few years so that made it easier for me. I had the vision to display these works years ago and I’m glad that I could make it happen with the Bo-Kaap Museum,” she said.
Ms Barnes proposed the concept to Annelize Kotze, a social history curator at the Iziko Museums, earlier this year.
“Rizqua told me of the traditions that are dying out and about the work she has done, I liked the concept and I thought it would be great not only for the Bo-Kaap but for all our visitors. We want these conversations about traditions to take place here and even though things are changing we have to remember where we come from. The aunties from Bo-Kaap that have seen the exhibit could relate to the images and the traditions that they were part of,” she said.
“We want this museum to be relevant and for people to come and share the stories here about the various cultures we have. Even though there are different traditions you can always find the similarities and that is what we should learn, that we are not that different from each other.”
Ms Kotze expanded the collection with older pictures from Bo-Kaap weddings, as well as a short film by film-maker Daniel Harris, who found Cape Malay traditions a decade ago.
“Aneeqha and Ghalieb Masoet requested I document their wedding day and Rosa happened to be sung at the reception and by chance I was shooting when the traditional emotional ‘send- off’ of the bride occurred, the subject of the photography exhibit,” Mr Harris said.
He says that the short film contains sequences from Cape Malay Choir contests in which the traditional wedding song Rosa is frequently sung.
“I grew up in Cape Town and had never heard this 100-year-old song before and performed live with a 50-strong choir and band – it is something to behold,” he said.
