Between 1653 and 1856, over 71,000 slaves were brought to Cape Town. Their history has tragically been all but forgotten.

Treated as nothing more than property, slaves were stripped of everything. Even their names were taken from them, and thousands were arbitrarily re-named after the month in which they arrived at the Cape.

The Iziko Slave Lodge Museum in Cape Town is the centre for the history of slavery in South Africa. Tragically, it has been all but forgotten. To overcome the barriers museums encounter of a lack of interest and of relevance, we had to connect current South Africans to their past – and what better way than through the very names they carry around to this day?

This insight led to the creation of The Slave Calendar, a physical calendar featuring the stark portraiture and true stories of hope as told by the living descendants of these slaves whose families still carry calendar month surnames to this day.

With zero media budget, how could they re-connect South Africans to this history, bring visitors back to the museum, and give the memory of these slaves who were torn from their homes the respect it deserves?

The Slave Calendar became front page local and international news, reaching an audience of over 33.7 million people with ZERO media budget. It received the official backing of Nobel Laurette, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, and has now become an on-going exhibit at the Iziko Slave Lodge Museum, one of eleven national museums.

The Slave Calendar was debated on the national news and on local and international talk radio stations, and was reprinted as a series of street pole posters by Cape Town’s leading newspaper.

Most importantly, though, the it increased visitor numbers to the museum by 26%, bringing back to life the stories of those slaves who were stripped of everything – even their names.