Posters recall freedom struggle
Chandrea Gerber
6 July 2004
Images of defiance in South Africa's turbulent history come in many forms. An exhibition of over 400 resistance posters at MuseuMAfricA in Newtown, Johannesburg explores one powerful tool that ordinary people used to voice their resistance to the violent oppression of the 1980s - often at risk of their lives.
The exhibition - now extended until the end of July - is the first phase of the JhbArtCity 2004 project, a year-long Johannesburg event that celebrates the symbols of the struggle for democracy and the achievement of freedom.
The second phase of the project is a national art competition which invites South African artists to submit paintings depicting the theme "Freedom". Twenty paintings will be selected for display on the walls of buildings throughout the city.
With some examples drawn from before the 1980s and some post-democracy, "Images of
Defiance" demonstrates not only the importance of posters in the history of South African art, but also their role as witnesses and agents in the struggle for freedom.
The resistance poster collection is also available in a book.
Rasheed Seedat, an activist of the 1980s silkscreen workshop, the Screen Training Workshop (STP), said at the opening of the exhibition: "Posters become a resonant part of our collective history, and continue to voice opposition to perceived injustices."
Describing the life-threatening conditions they operated under, Seedat said activists alternated between putting the posters up in the middle of the night -when they faced sure arrest if they were caught - and during the day, when they could blend in with the hubbub of activity.
Another STP activist, Maurice Smithers, recounted the experience of walking into work one day to find an axe through the photocopying machine used in the production of revolutionary posters. "This was a
clear message from the state that they didn't like what we were doing."
Smithers added: "This year is a time of recollecting and remembering. It is a celebration of the colour, images, ideas and words, and the source of the posters -the ordinary people that produced them.
"In many ways the struggle continues", Smithers said, adding that posters continue to play a role in the journey "to realise the lofty ideals of the Freedom Charter and our Constitution".
Many of the posters were banned, and another group of activists, The Posterbook Collective, secretly collected images and stored them in safe houses.
After the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the African National Congress, these posters were presented to the South African History Archive, and published in a seminal book, "Images of defiance: South African resistance posters of the 1980s", long out of print.
The book is now to be re-printed, with the intention of placing a copy in
every public library in South Africa. In the foreword to the book, Mandela writes: "It is very encouraging, especially to people of my generation, to know that the ideals for which many of us have sacrificed are very much alive and embodied in this collection of posters."
"Images of Defiance" is curated by The Posterbook Collective of the SA History Archive, part of the University of the Witwatersrand.
MuseuMAfricA is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Entrance is free. For more information, contact the museum on (011) 833 5624.
JhbArtCity 2004's objective is to celebrate South Africa's decade of democracy through art, while simultaneously promoting contemporary South African art and artists, and the city of Johannesburg as a centre for arts and culture.
JhbArtCity 2004 is jointly funded by the City of Johannesburg and a coalition of inner city businesses, with support from business and art bodies in South Africa through the Central Johannesburg
Partnership.
Source: City of Johannesburg website
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