AfricaIs aCountry

Not in My Name

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Not in My Name

By
Judy Seidman

What's it like seeing your work on display, only to realize it's been taken over and remade by someone else to give a totally different meaning.

Credit: Medu Arts Emsemble.

In his book Art and The End of Apartheid, John Peffer writes about the Medu Art Ensemble: “For them a true culture of the people would be one that was not exclusive to the elite of the world of art galleries, but was seen in the streets, on T-shirts and posters (…).” There is thus a certain amount of irony attached to the fact that some of their posters, which served as motivation for the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa, can be found in Goodman Gallery in a Johannesburg these days. But not as we know them. This time, the slogans on these posters have been changed to make a comment on the current state of South Africa, and particularly the ruling party, the ANC.  Judy Seidman, the original creator of some of these posters reacts in an open letter which we obtained earlier this week — Editors.

Further Reading

No one should be surprised we exist

The documentary film, ‘Rolé—Histórias dos Rolezinhos’ by Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Vladimir Seixas uses sharp commentary to expose social, political, and cultural inequalities within Brazilian society.

Reading List: Barbara Boswell

While editing a collection of the writings of South African feminist Lauretta Ngcobo, Barbara Boswell found inspiration in texts that reflected Ngcobo’s sense that writing is an exercise of freedom.

Kenya’s stalemate

A fundamental contest between two orders is taking place in Kenya. Will its progressives seize the moment to catalyze a vision for social, economic, and political change?

An annual awakening

In the 1980s, the South African arts collective Vakalisa Art Associates reclaimed time as a tool of social control through their subversive calendars.

More than a building

The film ‘No Place But Here’ uses VR or 360 media to immerse a viewer inside a housing occupation in Cape Town. In the process, it wants to challenge gentrification and the capitalist logic of home ownership.