The following exhibition is glimpse into the research conducted by Simoné Cloete for her Honours Thesis. She is a young academic and she holds a BA Honours in History from Bath Spa University, United Kingdom, where she graduated with distinction in 2022. Her honours dissertation examined the role of visual sources—such as photographs and satirical prints—in shaping public perceptions of the Anglo-Boer War concentration camps. She also holds a BA from the University of Pretoria, where she majored in English Literature, Psychology, and Criminology. She is currently expanding her research on the Anglo-Boer War, focusing on gender based violence during the war for her Masters at North-West University
The title of her thesis is The War of Imagery: The South African Concentration Camps of the 2nd Anglo Boer War 1899 -1902. Simoné created a wonderful website containing her research that is accessible to the public.
The Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) was a conflict that reshaped South Africa, but its greatest casualties were not soldiers on the battlefield—they were the women and children trapped in British concentration camps. In a war meant to be swiftly won, Britain resorted to “methods of barbarism,” as Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman called it, implementing the scorched earth policy and forcibly relocating civilians into overcrowded concentration camps.
This online exhibition explores the suffering and resilience of Boer women and children through their own words, rare photographs, and powerful political imagery. Diaries and eyewitness accounts reveal the unimaginable loss, starvation, and disease that took tens of thousands of lives. International outcry followed, with figures like Emily Hobhouse and Jean Veber exposing the humanitarian crisis through activism and art.
What was the role of war photography and political satire in shaping public perception? How did women endure the trauma of war, and what became of those who survived?
Step into history and uncover the stories of strength and sacrifice that echo through generations.
