at the end of the 1950’s jet travel brought about more communication with overseas - many artists...

At the end of the 1950’s Jet Travel brought about more communication with overseas - many artists traveled overseas & came into contact with overseas trends.

A quest for a SA identity became a concern. SA artists were aware of contemporary international art and wanted to associate with this art, but were also aware of the dissimilarities in physical surroundings, culture & society between SA & overseas countries.

Amadlozi Group was established by 5 Johannesburg artists & these artists tried to create an “Africaness” in their work. Amadlozi (Zulu) means “spirit of our ancestors”

Sash, Cattaneo, Skotnes, Khumalo & Villa

Skotnes, Head, 1972, Engraved & coloured wood panel

Skotnes, Couple, 1965, Engraved wood panel

Cattaneo, The Golden City, 1966, oil, polystyrene resin & collage

Cattaneo, The Red Link, 1963, Mixed Media

Sash, Minoan Composition in Yellow & Black, 1967

Sash, Target Composition II, 1974, oil

1910

The Cape Colony, Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State join to form the Union of South Africa

1912

South African Native National Congress (NNC) founded; later becomes the African National Congress (ANC)

1913

Native Land Act limits African landownership to the reserves; the beginning of a series of segregation laws

1948

The Afrikaner National party wins a general election and begins to apply its policy of apartheid

1950

The Population Registration Act classifies people by race; the Group Areas Act makes people reside in racially zoned areas

1952

The ANC and its allies launch a passive resistance campaign

1959

Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) founded

Township Art And the Polly Street art center:

•artistic activity had occurred in townships in the past but the tide of art that rose out of the townships in the 60’s was unprecedented.

•Polly street art center - played a very NB role in this - it was a minor section of a welfare complex in JHB, this section was run by Skotnes In 1952 when he started - the art center only had one student - by the time he left in 1966 township art had become a positive reality.

•Township art focussed on the human situation Primary theme = everyday life.

•Township art had no specific aesthetic principles, no particular style, but allowed black artists to develop. Most artworks were figurative (Townships were different to when Sekoto depicted them) Soweto was larger & most artists suffered felt isolated & their art was a form of self affirmation. The Black consciousness movement coincided with township art

Dumile, Standing Figure, n.d.Charcoal on Paper

Motau, Man in Jail, 1967, Charcoal on Paper

1960

African and Coloured representation in Parliament (by Whites) terminated

Police kill 67 African anti-pass law demonstrators at Sharpeville; the government bans African political organizations

1964

Nelson Mandela and other ANC and PAC leaders sentenced to life imprisonment

1976-77

Confrontations between Africans and police in Soweto and other African townships, at least 575 people die

1976-81

South Africa grants "independence" to the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and the Ciskei Homelands, but they are not recognized abroad

1977

Bantu Stephen Biko dies, September 12, 1977, from head injuries suffered while in police custody.

The U.N. Security Council imposes a mandatory embargo on the supply of arms to South Africa

Soweto Riots - June 16

Soweto Riots

The 70’s & 80’s:

The UN censured SA in the 60’s & in 1974 it suspended SA’s membership from the UN. Sanctions were intensified & SA artists were prevented from exhibiting overseas (mainly white SA artists)

June 16 1976 - Significant for SA art - some artists became involved in the struggle & some were detached.

Protest painting - varied from confrontational imagery to symbolic art that disguised its meaning.

In Europe their was resurgence in figurative trends & SA mirrored these trends & experimented with styles like Superrealism & Pop.

Gender politics became an international issue in the 70’s & SA artists engaged in this as well.

Paul Stopforth

The Interrogators, 197971 x 39" Graphite and wax on board

Painted in 1979, Interrogators, It represents the three men who tortured, interrogated, and killed Steve Biko. Following his death in 1977, Biko became a major symbol of resistance against apartheid. During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, in the mid 90’s, the three officers involved in Biko’s interrogation were questioned while appealing for amnesty.

Thoba, June 16 Riots

Stopforth, Elegy, 1980

Gary Van Wyk, State of Emergency Series, 1980’s

Catherine, Blood River

Catherine, The Last Letters from the Wilderness, 1977

Transitional art

Various exhibitions & competitions emerged in the 80’s that promoted the arts & the development of artists. One exhibition called Tributaries (sponsored by BMW) had an impact on the recognition of various styles of art making. The organizers asked an artist - Ricky Burnett to collect work that represented the contemporary spirit of art in SA

Drew on work of less well known artists & established artists & also sought out black urban & rural craftsmen. The resulting exhibition challenged convention & was aesthetically diverse.

Many of the controversial pieces were neither traditional ritual art nor fitted the formal principles of western sculpture.

The term Transitional art is controversial - many people use it to refer to the period when the objects were produced. (can imply that the artists are “on their way” to a mature identity.

Mukhuba, Dancing Figures, enamel paint on wood, wire nails, found objects, 1984

Phutuma Seoka, Township walk, enamel paint on wood, 1985

80’s & 90’s

Multiculturalism - ethnic diversity (Integration of Western & folk art )

The future of SA artists & others elsewhere seems to lie in recognising the prodigious wealth reposited in varied ethnic heritage, and in redefining their identity within the context of that cultural diversity.

Tito Zungu, Ball point ink on paper, 1972

Mchunu, untitled

Alexander, Untitled, Wax, Paint, Bone, Plaster of Paris , wood, steel, 1982

Alexander, The Butcher Boys, 1985 - 6

1981-88

ANC guerrillas sabotage South African cities

1984

A new constitution gives Asians and Coloureds but not Africans limited participation in the central government; Botha becomes state president

1984-86

Prolonged and widespread resistance to the regime in black South African townships; violent government reactions

1985

First contacts between the government and imprisoned and exiled ANC leaders

1986

Pass laws repealed

The government proclaims a nationwide state of emergence, detains thousands of people, and prohibits the press, radio, and television from reporting unrest

1989

De Klerk succeeds Botha, first as leader of the National party, then as president

.

1990

De Klerk unbans the ANC, PAC, and SACP; releases Mandela and other political prisoners

1990-91

Population Registration Act, and Separate Amenities Act repealed; political organizations unbanned; state of emergency revoked

Delegates from 18 parties start formal negotiations

1993

Negotiations resume; de Klerk, Mandela, and leaders of 18 other parties endorse an interim constitution

1994

The ANC wins first nonracial election (April 27-30)

Nelson Mandela is sworn in as president (May 10) and forms Government of National Unity

Foreign governments lift sanctions

1995

The Constitutional Court abolishes the death penalty

1996-97

Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the body charged with investigating crimes committed during the apartheid era in South Africa

Make sure you know what the following terms mean with regard to this section •Indigenous art - local art •Western influenced art •Transitional art - made in early 80’s & does not fit into traditional craft categorisation nor does it fit into western categorisation•Contemporary art - contemporary = of the times (contemporary art for us is art that is made now) for SA art = post 1960 art

The following web site is useful for an overview of this art period:http://www.liberatedvoices.org/ http://library.thinkquest.org/18799/