2024 SA Art Centres Polly & Rorkes PDF

SA Art Centres 1948-1976 Question 4: RESISTANCE ART IN SOUTH AFRICA DURING THE APARTHEID ERA (Circa. 1950–1994 CE)  1948-1976 Context: Resistance to the new Apartheid laws The Nationalist Government crushed all marches and protests 69 peopl...

SA Art Centres 1948-1976 Question 4: RESISTANCE ART IN SOUTH AFRICA DURING THE APARTHEID ERA (Circa. 1950–1994 CE)  1948-1976 Context: Resistance to the new Apartheid laws The Nationalist Government crushed all marches and protests 69 people were shot by police in Sharpeville massacre in 1960 Soweto uprisings in 1976 Black Consciousness Movement was started by Steve Biko  During the first 50 years of the 20th C, (1900-1950s) there were no art schools/ training centers that artists of colour could attend Artists who made a living were self-taught. However, 2 important ‘schools’ begun during this time, providing access to art and craft. This influenced the course of early South African art:  Looking at 1948-1976 TWO important art centres provided access to art and craft training: The Polly Street Art Centre Rorke’s Drift (The ELC (Evangelical Lutheran Church) Art and Craft Centre) Urban Rural Cecil Skotnes Peder and Ulla Gowenius Started 1949, prominent in 50s Started 1963, prominent in 60s In Johannesburg (1940-1970) was started by In KwaZulu-Natal, funded and supported by a ‘liberal’ Johannesburg City Council to provide the Swedish Lutheran Mission in South Africa a recreation facility for men in the evenings after work Dominated by male artists Women play an important role If Polly Street attempted a romantic re- Then Rorke's Drift was in Africa. connection to Africa  1. POLLY STREET CECIL SKOTNES appointed director in 1952 He caused the Polly Street Recreational Centre to become recognised as an Art training Centre for a whole generation of artists He put the centre and the students in touch with an array of contacts (foreign visitors and dealers) & through his network of support, Skotnes was able to launch himself and a number of other artists into successful, lifelong art careers THE ESTABLISHMENT & IMPORTANCE OF THE CENTRE: The accessibility of the centre enabled artists from different cultural groups and races and cultures to come together, sharing technical knowledge and aesthetic debate e.g., Sydney Kumalo's apprenticeship to Eduardo Villa Skotnes enabled artists that were not able to study (as a result of apartheid) to overcome the shortcomings of limited education & resources and become the first generation of professional artists of colour The Polly Street Art Centre taught: All the standard western art exercises, such as still-life painting, life drawing, landscape studies and abstract design Different media such as charcoal, pencil, watercolours, gouache and/or oils were used Students were also encouraged to embark on their own projects at home  SYDNEY Kumalo DURANT SIHLALI POLLY STREET 1. Township style EPHRAIM NGATANE DURANT SIHLALI 2. Neo-African style EZROM LEGAE SYDNEY Kumalo DUMILE FENI EZROM LEGAE EPHRAIM NGATANE  1) TOWNSHIP ART Divided into various styles, based on each artist’s individual approach, AND what the Western market called for Accurate recordings of specific places in the township e.g. SIHLALI Abstracted picturesque 'shantytowns‘ (general stylized scenes - no real place or actual experience) e.g. NGATANE Ngatane Sihlali  DURANT SIHLALI His work is often branded "township art" while in truth it documented historical realities which had little to do with the romantic images demanded by Western market Impressionism is a major influence on his work Burning old clothes 1964 watercolour on paper Street vendors, Kliptown 1980 watercolour on card 51 x 73 cm Durant Sihlali Pimville rent offices on fire, riots (Soweto) 1977 watercolour on paper EPHRAIM NGATANE Polly Street artist Township scenes Used watercolours, gouache, oils and ink Ephraim Ngatane Musicians 1967 watercolour, conte and guache on paper 75.5 x 57 cm Ephraim Ngatane Ephraim Ngatane Figures Reading the Newspaper in a township 1969 Oil on board Mixed media on board  Ephraim Ngatane Ephraim Ngatane The Bridal Procession Reflections of Soweto 1962 1970 Watercolour and ink Oil on board 2) NEO-AFRICAN STYLE Artists started moving away from the realistic conventions of Western Art Skotnes Figure (Skotnes himself began to collect African art Composition 1966 Carved and painted Skotnes Pale & started working from African sources wood Prisoners 1975 creating more simplified, distorted Carved and painted wood representations) The other stream that became famous at Polly Street was sculpture and graphics inspired by more expressive and abstracted forms of African art & sculpture e.g. SYDNEY Kumalo and EZROM LEGAE Kumalo Dancing woman bronze Kumalo Mask terracotta  Cecil Skotnes introduced him to Western & African Sculpture. The early work of Kumalo illustrates a gradual move away from conventions in the search for an expressive language informed by Africa. From African sculpture, he incorporated an understanding of the unusual & expressive sculptural proportions. Throughout his career, he had a preoccupation with depicting humans and animals as BASIC FORMS. His works have a MONUMENTAL quality even though they are not large The STYLIZATION of the human and animal forms shows the influences of ABSTRACTION, as generally seen in traditional African sculptures, which also influenced Western artists to develop the modernist tradition as seen in Cubism. Besides this influence of European modernism, his works could also be interpreted as a SEARCH FOR HIS AFRICAN ROOTS AND IDENTITY Neo-African style SYDNEY Kumalo Sydney Kumalo ive rat g u & fi ive s s p re Ex Sydney Kumalo Two Bulls Bronze ANALYSIS?  Context: Created at Polly Street Sydney Kumalo “ Two Bulls” Art Centre in urban Johannesburg. Bronze Proportions of male figure The centre provided training and art distorted with a long torso. materials for artists after hours to Description: a bronze cast This shows the emphasis was help them create expressive and brick clay sculpture of an not on realistic portrayal but meaningful artwork. elongated nude man abstracted and simplified figure straddling a rather resembling the influence of small bull. African masks and expressive as well as The body language with crossed symbolic value rather than arms shows the male figure as reality. being quite pleased with himself The man’s exposed genitals and comfortable about being in a are a symbol of his control position. manhood and masculinity and strength and also ties in Meaning: The man is in control of the bull in with the title of two BULLS. the same way the apartheid government was in control at the time The relative size / scale of the male nude to the Style: abstracted and bull signifies the inequality; the weight of the stylized, distorted. Expressive man being too much to bear. Inspired by African The bull should be much larger and therefore art (masks) but cast in speaks to the silencing and diminishing bronze which is & disempowerment of people being controlled considered a European  Sydney Kumalo Sydney Kumalo Sydney Kumalo Mask Praying Woman St. Francis 1960 1960 1962 Brick clay bronze cast of clay sculpture bronze  Sydney Kumalo Reclining Figure mixed media drawing on paper 54 x 58 cm EZROM LEGAE Ezrom Legae Self Portrait 1980 pencil, charcoal and wash on paper 42 x 23.5 cm Ezrom Legae Ezrom Legae Horse rider Fighting Goats 1970 1967 pencil and charcoal on paper  Ezrom Legae Ezrom Legae Ezrom Legae Sacrifice Young man Star-gazer 1991 1968 1972 Bronze Bronze Bronze  Growth of the Polly Street Art Centre curbed by the policy of separate development Destroys a significant meeting place for artists It became policy to provide facilities in the townships (such as the Mofolo Art Centre in Soweto and the Katlehong Art Centre in Katlehong) I.e. No longer centrally located centre  The art of the 60s and 70s shows two distinct orientations One was an attempt to reflect social Two, an art that celebrated the reality, and the repression of the beautiful and the mystical 1960s This art was often introspective and It was an art inspired by music, 'tortured'; at its best an indictment of the literature, poetry, and an affirmative social conditions caused by apartheid view of the political struggle As a site of hope rather than despair Exp. Dumile Feni Exp. Peter Clarke PETER CLARKE HOPE RATHER THAN DESPAIR tortured repression DUMILE FENI Feni was a Xhosa artist, born on a farm in Worcester. His work often tied to the period of Apartheid in SA He attended Polly street from 1964-1968 In 1967, Dumile’s work was selected to be exhibited at the Sao Paulo Biennale: enter international art world During this period, however, the apartheid government’s security forces tightened their monitoring of Dumile’s movements, and thoughts of exile grew serious. The regime questioned his career as an artist, professed him an enemy of the state and proponent of the African Consciousness movement, and denied Dumile a pass to remain in Johannesburg despite his contract with Gallery 101. In Arts and Artists in June 1983, Dumile explained, “I would not have had the harassment that I had if not for my ideas and also the titles – always the titles – that I give my work.” He also did works depicting Albert Luthuli, the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960 which provoked the attention of the apartheid regime. While Dumile was not a formal member of the ANC, he was certainly a sympathizer and supporter in a broader cultural sense. Lived in self-imposed exile from 1968 to 1991 based between London, Los Angeles and New York. DUMILE FENI Dumile found his subject matter in the life and events he observed around him, but had the ability and vision to transform the PARTICULAR into the UNIVERSAL and blend the SUBLIME AND EROTIC with the TRAGIC, the BESTIAL and the LYRICAL. He produced many sculptures & drawings, but his graphic works show his real strength. Many of his drawings, in charcoal or pen, are powerfully executed in a complex interweaving of delicate, fine lines and EXPRESSIONISTIC symbolism. They also have a profound SCULPTURAL QUALITY as EXAGGERATES & DISTORTS the sizes and lengths of various body parts for symbolic effect. By adopting African stylistic conventions, he sought to establish a position of authenticity as an urban, African artist working in a modernist Western art world (however, this was full of complexities, difficulties, tensions, which in turn resulted in work that was sometimes DISJOINTED, but always POWERFUL & MOVING) His own PERSONAL EMOTIONS (anger, frustration & despair at the deprived lives of his fellow black South Africans) fed into works of extraordinary power; and evoked feelings of deep sympathy and humanity that could be easily understood and empathized by all.  ANALYSIS THINK ABOUT Context Subject Matter Influences Style Elements & Principles Dumile Feni “ African Guernica” 1967, Charcoal on paper, 2m × 2m Context & Influences - Feni (aka Goya of the townships) painted his own version of Picasso's Guernica (Western influence) which directly mir:rors Picasso’s earlier work of the same name. - Created in 1967 (shortly before his exile to London) during apartheid [a racial segregation policy which believed that non-whites were inferior to white people - It is his personal protest against the apartheid system reflects the social context of oppression in the urban South African setting. (Goya was a 18th C Romantic (Picasso was a 20th C Cubist who produced this artist who painted expressive & painting Guernica (his hometown) which was based on emotional works about war, death, the destruction and suffering caused by civil war suffering corruption, insanity etc.)  Based on this work: Pablo Picasso, “Guernica” 1937, Oil on canvas, 3m × 7m Context: Visual analysis: Based on an incident from the Spanish civil war in April 1937 Composition: triangular pyramid (eye at the top, soldier’s when the German Airforce dropped bombs on the Spanish hand in the bottom left and the woman’s foot in the bottom town of Guernica right, form a triangle) After 3 ½ hours the town was leveled, and thousands of people Focal point: bull/horse and the lights were killed Shapes: overlapped, angular and fragmented creating a sense of chaos, being torn apart, broken and frightened Content: atmosphere The painting conveys the actual event using symbols Lines: black marks on the horse looks like a stab wound The scene is full of distorted bizarre figures with and animals Style: abstracted, stylized and distorted forms with open mouths Message: Plea for peace by showing the suffering of war.  Subject The scene is dominated by various disturbing fragmented animal and human figures that seem to have been physically(and emotionally) deformed by society (apartheid) e.g. A double-headed cow turns its back on us while it suckles a child. A grotesque naked squealing figure, seems to be splitting from itself with a third leg. One figure holds another in his arms, both in state of shock. Another strange-limbed figure is seated at a table as if awaiting a meal, while he seems to be begging at the same time. Other animals (cows, ducks, cat, fowl) roam the landscape like wandering lost figures Description: A large charcoal Style drawing inspired by Picasso’s - He works expressively in fine layers of charcoal on newsprint (European Guernica depicting people and medium) but his style remains authentic in that he adopts African stylistic animals in anguish scattered conventions e.g. across the page with a baby being trampled on in the bottom - He deliberately exaggerates the size of the head / feet / hands & distorts left corner the arms / legs into thin limbs to add to the emotionally disturbing mood Elements & Principles - Tone & contrast – symbolic use of stark white figures against a dark background (good vs evil) - Shape – circular positioning / strong use of flat negative & positive shapes - Proportion & scale – the figures are elongated / distorted in size for effect - Repetition & pattern – similar disturbing shapes & subjects are scattered & repeated to add to the mad frenzy and drama of the scene Themes & Symbols - He makes a direct reference to the life and sights he has had to witness. - The work deals with complex emotional personal (& universal) socio-political sentiments of suffering / anguish / despair / vulnerability & bestiality - He uses powerful symbols: humans vs animals / black vs white / good vs evil (links to apartheid’s classification system & low view of people of colour and the evilness of the system and makes us feel for the innocent victims caught in it Meaning - Expresses the anger, frustration, despair and he felt at the inhumane social and political dislocation that apartheid was forcing upon him and his fellow black Africans - shows his disapproval of what was happening in South Africa at the time. - Also emphasizes the harsh conditions of human oppression (physical and emotional deformation) recognises the insanity of white colonial racist rule & how everyone in a warped system can lose their “humanity” & inflict evil on the innocent - His work communicates a need for justice and aims to draw attention to the brutality and violent events that marked this time in South African history. Rorke’s Drift  As a result of the policy of separate development, there was no longer a centrally located centre and the Polly Street Art Centre closed … however, soon after Rorke's Drift was established The ELC (Evangelical Lutheran Church) Art and Craft Centre in Rorkes’s Drift was started in 1962 by Swedish Missioneries: Peder and Ulla Gowenius This arose out of a committee formed in 1961 in Sweden, for the advancement of African art and craft As a result of this initiative, Peder and Ulla Gowenius were sent to South Africa to work at the Ceza Mission Hospital Interaction between the Swedish and South African teachers and South African students at the ELC causes a complex set of artistic exchanges and cross- cultural influences The Centre was able to provide for many of its financial needs e.g. the weaving section paid for most of the running of the school BUT without the initial support (financing and marketing) from the Swedes it would not have been possible to sustain this most important art centre. Aims & importance of the centre: “If Polly Street attempted a re-connection TO Africa, Rorke’s Drift was IN Africa” To nurture the unique artistic heritage of Africa and to extend this heritage with new influences so that it developed with the changing society To create a cross-cultural influence between the West and Africa as well as a duality of the old and the new, traditional and technological To find increasingly profitable outlets to assist in raising the standard of living by extending it's teaching influence through its students and by giving local people work and income (graduates of the ELC were guaranteed work at virtually all of the existing art centers in the country) The on-going interaction between the school where Fine Art was taught, and the workshops where craft was produced, was an important phenomenon in the history of South African Art. Unfortunately, pressures relating to resources and a high turnover of staff in the school, led to the closure of the fine art section at Rorke’s Drift in 1982.  Art-making at the centre: The school taught Fine Art & Crafts were produced in workshops The interaction between the two an important in terms of the history of SA art. Certain practices were done exclusively by specific genders: 1. Weaving done by women (apart from some designs by men) 2. Fine art by men (apart from a few women) 3. Ceramic workshop (both men & women worked BUT two approaches developed WOMEN: female tradition of making pottery by the coil method MEN: used the kick-wheel. ARTISTS: AZARIA MBATHA (linocut, Christian, careful) JOHN MUAFANGEJO (linocut, reality and text, spontaneous)  AZARIA MBATHA Upbringing in Christian Zulu Culture Mbatha produced mostly Christian imagery influenced by his father His themes:Unity / Reconciliation / Christian imagery / Universal experience Azaria Mbatha Jesus after Death linocut on paper 32.2 x 56.1 cm  JOHN MUAFANGEJO His work contains: Text Reality of his experience  JOHN MUAFANGEJO Born in Ovamboland in South-West Africa which (present-day Namibia) which before it’s independence, fell under white colonical rule) His family was predominantly Lutheran Christians but kept most of their cultural traditions. In 1967 an American missionary helped him with the application to the Rorke's Drift, Natal in South Africa. He then moved there and under the influence of Mbatha, developed his artistic ability for linocut & become the first international acclaimed Nambian artist. There are parallels in the early work / development of Mbatha and Muafangejo They both used WESTERN EUROPEAN TECHNIQUES to communicate their IDENTITY & EXPRESS THEIR RACIAL STRUGGLE in a white controlled environment, but Mbatha had a far more careful and less varied cutting technique  JOHN MUAFANGEJO Muafangejo's work was LOOSE with a quality of MOVEMENT & SPONTANEITY His works have a strong NARRATIVE component. All the important experiences in his life are GRAPHICALLY RECORDED and accompanied by clear EXPLANATORY TEXTS describing the exact nature of the event recorded. “He narrated his life's experiences, and in the subtlest of ways, his works were political in how he addressed life at home, career and religion. He was conscious of the struggle and his social commentary was necessary and profound” He did not live to see the independence of Namibia in 1990, but the violent struggle for it formed the background for his art.  MAIN THEMES / SUBJECTS (in order of importance): 1) Personal (autobiographical) – diary-like recording his feelings / state of mind & experience 2) Everyday life – community traditions / stories / daily activities / rural surroundings 3) Biblical - reworked in an African context & bearing testament to his own strong faith / conveying a message (role of church in the resistance struggle / good vs evil ) 4) Political & Historical – although rare, he did sometimes refer to the repressive apartheid regime at the time & the meetings / tensions (Namibia vs SA) His works are grounded in AFRICA and intermingled with EUROPEAN influences (black vs white / rural vs urban / traditional vs modern) His PACKED COMPOSITIONS contained personal, biblical, narrative and historical elements, often with a distinct political tone. At first his subjects seem ‘naïve’ however, they are profoundly deep & modern. His SIMPLIFIED REPRESENTATIONS are an expressive version of reality which reveals a deeper insight into life as he perceived and experienced it which shows his authentic artistic expression. 1 Lonely Man, Man of man 1974 Interview at Cape Town University 1971 Lucky Artist 1974 2 Kuanyama Wedding 1970 Men are working in town 1980 We are drinking Ovambo Bier 1977 3 Preparation for the Flood 1979 “Adam & Eve” 1968 - 85 4 Hope and Optimism 1984 Battle of Rorke’s Drift 1981 “Self Defence in Northern Namibia 1987 STYLE He has a DECORATIVE STYLE with strong RHYTHMIC LINES & SIMPLIFIED SHAPE His contrasting black / white / positive / negative shapes creates a GRAPHIC QUALITY His compositions are 2d & flat with‘characters’ densely packed in a SHALLOW SPACE The use of BLACK AND WHITE is symbolic – he literally and figuratively told a story in black-and-white (symbolic of newspaper recordings + dualities of his life) The use of TEXT adds to the narrative to describe & comment on these important events as well as to interact with the viewer The text is a final completion of the images and is also a confirmation that his works are documentations of actual events rather than anecdotes. Lettering must be carved as a mirror image, which required skillful inclusion in the design New Archbishop Desmond Tutu Enthroned Much of the text is English and aimed at and to include white viewers 1987  ANALYSIS THINK ABOUT Context Subject Matter Influences Style Elements & Principles John Muafangejo “Pregant Maria” 1973 Linocut Description/subject - A linocut of a white man (in a modern suit) reaching out to a black pregnant woman (in traditional African robe) holding a bunch of flowers. The reaching out symbolizes the union of marriage, and the image has patterns in the background. - Biblical link Maria aka Mary (Mother of God) possibly with Joseph Context & Meaning - Religious subjects reflect his strong Christian faith - He wasn’t concerned with merely illustrating the Bible – but more engaged with the social and environmental reality of his world & the political and social role of the Church in resisting and opposing an inhumane and unjust regime - The white man visibly reaches out to form a union (marriage and racial unity?) - The representation of black religious figures was unheard of in European artworks, so this was his way of making the story more relevant and expressing his identity in a white-controlled environment. - Ovambo weddings feature a combination of Christian beliefs & Ovambo traditions - The Ovambo's traditional religion believes in a supreme being named Kalunga, created the first man and first woman, who had a daughter and two sons. It is the daughter's lineage that created Ovambo people, (pregnancy symbolism?)  Style - The decorative patterns and African-like zig zag stylized robe reflects his African heritage - The linocut print is flat and stylised in its simplicity and boldness - Doesn’t have the characteristic text (but self explanatory & universal) Elements & Principles - Line – created by the man’s extended arm (symbolic of unity / oneness) - Texture strong tactile appearance of a lino print - Shape – strong use of flat negative & positive triangular shapes - Contrast – symbolic use of black and white / man & woman / African & European - Repetition & pattern – seen in the decorative use of pattern in the robe - Balance & Unity – shown in full composition & subject placement (symbolic)