Art historian Dr Ralf P Seippel has curated this historic photographic overview of South African culture and lifestyle from the 1950's to the present. Comprising mostly of black-and-white photographs, this extensive exhibition gives an insight into South African society, politics, culture and economy, as well as the struggle for survival in the big cities. It shows the way South Africa has evolved into the modern nation it is today.
The exhibition is divided into three main periods, namely from 1950 to 1976 (apartheid), from 1976 to 1994 (struggle) and from 1994 to 2010 (freedom). Photographers such as Bonile Bam, Jodi Bieber, Pierre Crocquet, David Goldblatt, Bob Gosani, George Hallett, Alf Kumalo, Ranjith Kally, Peter Magubane, Gideon Mendel, Santu Mofokeng, GR Naidoo, Cedric Nunn, Mikhael Subotzky, Andrew Tshabangu, Paul Weinberg, Gille de Vlieg and Sam Nzima, as well as a number of Drum magazine photographers whose names are not known, provide us with their insights into life in South Africa over the past 60 years.
Photographs from the 50s and 60s published in Drum tell the story of life in the period of apartheid and reveal the naked truth of segregation. They also document sports events, the rise of football stars and the night life vibrating with jazz music and dancing feet. Images from the 70s, such as Sam Nzima's iconic photograph of the wounded Hector Pieterson who was shot down by the police in Soweto on 16 June 1976, document the growing struggle and resistance movements that fought apartheid. Photographs taken during the 80s and 90s highlight violent murders, demonstrations, the brutality of imprisonment and the fight for freedom. Finally, photographers working in the 21st century show a South Africa of recovery and immense development, democracy and freedom, but they also show the work that still has to be done and the inequalities that remain. In the new South Africa everyone can vote, there is freedom of speech and gender equality allows women to demonstrate their strengths.
The exhibition is accompanied by a German/English catalogue of 160 pages published by Hatje Cantz and edited by Delia Klask and Ralf Seippel. Apart from the photographs in the exhibition the catalogue also features articles by Andries Oliphant, Luli Callinicos and Wiebke Ratzeburg.
The exhibition is sponsored by Daimler AG, Stuttgart, supported by BAHA Archive and South African Photographers, the Bailey Seippel Gallery and the Seippel Gallery, Johannesburg.
The opening takes place on Wednesday, 2 February 2011 at 18:00.
For more information, please call Gerda Guldemond on 012 344 1807.