IN celebration of freedom, to create, inspire and push boundaries, is the group exhibition titled South African Art which is a retrospective of contemporary art. Curated by Bongi Bengu and Lunga Khumalo in collaboration with the Durban Art Gallery, the exhibition runs until August 29 and the opening speaker is Anthea Martin.
In an interview with one of the curator’s, Durban Art Gallery’s Thulani Makhaye shares: “The exhibition was initially aimed as part of celebrating 20 years of democracy. That concept was changed and the current concept looks at the works that deal with current socio-political and economic issues. The exhibition’s contents are characterised by works that date from 1994 to present. The main reason for focusing on 1994 to present is to start a discourse using artworks to interrogate changes, improvements and backward steps of the country’s political, social and economic spectrums.
“The pre-democracy artworks featured a lot of hope and were optimistic of a better future when ideals of freedom, brotherhood, equality and the right to vote were to be shared by all citizens. The exhibition looks at that distance from pre-democracy and the advent of democracy in 1994 by starting the conversation of how far have things changed, what are the new struggles that dominate society, the meta-morphosis of black-on-black violence to xenophobia and Afrophobia.
“The works also illustrate new heroes, those who have taken the baton of being activists, from Biko to Andries Tatane, issues surrounding the police departments, its change from being a ‘force’ to a ‘service’’ and reverting back into being a ‘force’. The issues of police brutality have not changed much. It’s for this reason that Sue Williamson’s work is on display.
“The work discusses issues around power, victim-perpetrator, forgiveness etc. The message in the exhibition is to ask the viewer, mostly those who have lived from apartheid to democracy, to look critically at what has changed: what needs to change, what histories need to be retained which ones need to be excluded.”
Participating artists include Williamson, Zamani Makhanya, Pitika Ntuli, Mary Sibande and Michael Selekane. According to Makhaye, viewers can get a sense of how much South African artists can still offer the arts: “The exhibition presents the Masters and their students which shows how much the country’s visual arts have grown from institution such as Rorke’s Drift, Fuba and Polly Street to equal opportunities in art education with non-whites affording to attend art schools such as Michaelis School of Fine Arts, Wits Art department and the University of KwaZulu-Natal and universities of technology.”
l The exhibition ends August 29 at Durban Art Gallery: 031 311 2268.