To mark 30 years of South Africa’s democracy, the Apartheid Museum is partnering with the Ifa Lethu Foundation to showcase an exhibition of selected works from its esteemed collection.
The collection of artworks repatriated from 16 countries represents a record of life in the townships in the dark days of apartheid. That black artists created this art is extraordinary, and that it has been preserved and returned to South Africa is something of a miracle.
Dr Narissa Ramdhani, director of the Ifa Lethu Foundation, says: “During the apartheid era, these artists were unrecognised and remained unsung to the extent that even museums in this country refused to acknowledge their work. Yet, this collection attracted 24 000 visitors to our 2010 exhibition at Constitution Hill and went on to be exhibited in the United Kingdom for the 2012 Olympic Games and in France and Australia at the invitation of heads of State.
“Thanks to our founding Australian donors, the late Bruce Haigh, Diane Johnstone, the Australian High Commission in South Africa and our then Minister of Arts and Culture, Z. Pallo Jordan, the Ifa Lethu Foundation was born in 2005.”
The foundation has come of age and demonstrated the value of heritage in building a strong democracy. While the first decades of South Africa’s democracy correctly focused on redressing imbalances in the material welfare of all South Africans, the neglect of the reconstruction and development of the soul has resulted in ongoing fractures in society – evidenced by the staggeringly high levels of crime and violence in recent decades.
“Cultural heritage was employed as a weapon by all sides during apartheid – as a weapon of oppression by the state and as a weapon of resistance by the freedom movements. The foundation has seized the opportunity to employ cultural heritage once more as a weapon, but this time to inform and empower all South Africans,” says Ramdhani.
“To this end, the foundation is not only a repository but also a facilitator of repatriation, human rights advocacy and skills and enterprise development, having trained 2 500 youth in seven provinces in partnership with many of South Africa’s premier business schools.”
The exhibition features some of the highlights of the collection of over 500 works, and also includes works of contemporary South African artists who exhibit alongside their forebears.
It is currently on display at the Apartheid Museum, and runs until 31 July 2024.