From state of emergency to the dawn of democracy: revisiting exhibitions of South African art held in South Africa (1984-1997)
Date
2016-07-29
Authors
Mdluli, Same
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Abstract
This research project explores the role of art exhibitions in bringing the work of
African artists, in this case ‘rural’ South Africa artists, to the attention of the
contemporary world. Broadly it seeks to explore questions that arise from the
construction of the category of ‘African art’, its canonisation, representation and
precarious transition from ethnology to art. By examining the conditions under which
the work of black ‘rural’ artists in South Africa was included in major national art
exhibitions of South African art during the 1980s, an inquiry is made as to why some
or most of these artists have since disappeared and slipped away from the mainstream.
There appears to have been very little written about these artists, with the exception of
a handful, in the context of these exhibitions. As a result this study proposes a review
of the content and contexts of these exhibitions so as to determine their role in
generating written commentary and critiques that established the differentials that I
will argue were at play in the ways in which ‘rural’ black artists were included,
received and have ultimately disappeared from view in the high art arena
Description
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
of
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG
July 2015