The earthy ochre tones and dark scrawls in Asanda Kupaโs Chained in blue (2017) evoke a mass of figures united under a banner of resistance. The canvas appears as an eruption of expressive marks and dynamic energy. The piece seems to summon songs and chants for freedom. It is an especially poignant piece in the Artbank of South Africaโs collection. In an interview Kupa describes how, โI use crowds as a symbol of oneness, that everything is connected, and all is oneโ.
The sixteenth of December is a day steeped in significance. It has been named, claimed and also retrospectively framed. During various moments of history this day has commemorated anguished battles and victories, based on the dominant perspective.
An exhibition curated from the Oliewenhuis Art Museumโs Permanent Collection and ArtbankSAโs collection curated by Yolanda de Kock. The exhibition opened on 25 November 2021 in the Main Building, Oliewenhuis Art Museum.
Culture is not fixed. It ebbs and flows from one generation to the next. Our ancestors and elders bequeath to us gifts of knowledge and embodied knowing. Yet sometimes we forget. When the rituals that contain and connect us are lost we become untethered from our communities and unable to contain the depth of wisdom acquired before us.
In South Africa the month of August is synonymous with honoring women: their courage, strength and endurance. Celebrated on the 9th of August, the day reminds us of the courageous march in 1956 by approximately 20ย 000 women who protested against legislation aimed at tightening the apartheid governmentโs control over the movement of black women in urban areas.