Creating a Space for Encounter and Rememberance: The Healing of Memories Process

Source: (2000) Research Report Written for the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Institute for Healing of Memories. Downloaded 29 April 2003.

This document consists of a research report written for the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and for the Institute for Healing of Memories. The author is Undine Kayser, a postgraduate student in social anthropology at the University of Cape Town. This particular report is part of a larger research project aimed at a comprehensive analysis of the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa. Kayser’s field research looked at a process known as the “healing of memories” (HOM). It was a process that supported the work of the TRC. Yet it also presented an alternative intervention model for speaking about the past by providing an additional and different space from the TRC’s testimonial arena. In her report, Kayser discusses the history of the HOM process, the nature of the research study, the HOM workshop model, key concepts in the HOM process, and challenges and potential of the HOM process.