The Role of the Artist by Katherine Wise

Throughout this class so far, although in particular on Friday, we have been able to study the role of the artist in South African Society, especially their role during apartheid resistance and renaissance. Although many of our planned events and museum trips gave us this opportunity, much of the art can also be found outside the walls of a museum- on the tables of the market venders or on the side of the buildings.

 Friday morning started off with a trip to the Iziko Slave Lodge, where our tour guide Lucy was able to show us art and artifacts that served as “cultural echos”, as one quote in the museum accurately described it. The museum and art within were reminders of a time when slaves brought from all over the world were housed there. The museum also currently has a Nelson Mandela exhibit. The art work, in particularly for me the political cartoons, brought to life the struggles that Nelson Mandela endured, as well as much of the population’s reactions to Mandela.

 We were able see more art at The Crypt, an exhibit in St. George’s Cathedral dedicated towards the resistance of apartheid, in particular the resistance in 1989, when a protest took place in resistance to the apartheid. The photos were able to illustrate the emotion of it all- not just the anger and cruelty experienced, but also the strength and endurance that helped make the anti-apartheid movement.

 Our class went to the District 6 museum as well, my personal most memorable stop of the day, where photos and pieces of art like a tapestry work commemorated the lives of the thousands of people who were forced to move out of the area which they lived because of the color of their skin. Their community, their homes and their streets, were then bulldozed and demolished into nothing. The tour guides at the museum used to be residents of District 6; my guide literally showed the photo of his home of 27 years being torn to pieces. The before and after photos of the community also described the pain of the event more than words ever could.

 The artist’s role was to express the deep feelings through alternate mediums. It was a way for people’s voices to be heard, both in their communities living amongst them and the outside world. I think that the photos put a real life, a human race into the system of aparthied; today it makes the lessons from our books, readings and classes come to life, and at the time of the apartheid it put a person into a situation that was often dehumanizing.

 Art encourages people to tell their story. In South Africa, these stories help serve as reminders. They allow “the narrative” to continue on about the occurrences during the apartheid regime, which Mr. Khoisan (an investigator in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission) says is crucial in the process of restoration.