This photographic exhibition is curated from Oliewenhuis Art Museum and ArtbankSA’s collections. The exhibition features historical and contemporary moments as seen through the lens of some of South Africa’s most esteemed photographers. The artworks for this exhibition were selected specifically to commemorate a pivotal moment in South Africa’s history: the first non-racial democratic elections of 1994.
February 1981: The last known photograph of lawyer Griffiths Mxenge, brutally murdered by a death squad in 1981, and his wife Victoria, an activist assassinated in 1985. (Photograph by Gallo Images/Sunday Times Archive)
The lives of two of South Africa’s bravest civil rights lawyers, Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge, and his wife, Victoria Nonyamezelo Mxenge were cut short by apartheid agents. Their ultimate sacrifices for the liberation of South Africans should be remembered and honoured. Here are the couple’s inspiring stories.
A triumphant Philip Kgosana being raised shoulder-high by anti-pass protesters on 30 March 1960. (Photo: Wikipedia)
On 30 March 1960 a 23-year-old black man became instantly famous for courageously leading a non-violent protest march of about 30 000 people in Cape Town against the infamous pass laws. His name was Philip Kgosana.
The Vredefort Dome in the Free State Province of South Africa is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its geological distinction. It is the largest and oldest impact crater on Earth and is named after the town of Vredefort. For further information regarding its geological importance, refer to the suggested readings below.
Introduction
Earth is currently in the grip of the Quaternary glaciation, where climate alternates between cold temperature intervals, called glacial periods, and phases of warmer climate, called interglacial periods. Glacial-interglacial cycles have waxed and waned throughout the Quaternary Period (the past 2.6 million years) and are believed to be driven by changes in the orbital pattern of the Earth that has periods of about 20 000, 40 000 and 100 000 years.