Exhibition a potent reminder of our past
80 photos, short film about ANC in exile are on show at gallery
IMAGES of ANC heroes in exile are a powerful reminder of the hopeful beginnings of our democracy. An exhibition of 80 photographs and a short film documenting the ANC in exile opened last night at the Michaelis Gallery.
is a time capsule taking audiences back to a pivotal moment in the history of South Africa and the ANC.
The photographs were all shot by Laurie Sparham in the year before Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
For curator Dr Siona O’Connell, the pictures are an emotional reminder of the hope that was promised at the end of apartheid.
“For me, as someone who voted for the first time in 1994, these pictures are a reminder of the sacrifice for and promise of freedom. I am overcome with emotion when I look at these pictures of Walter Sisulu and Chris Hani. I see in them a promise that has yet to be fulfilled given that while we may be emancipated at the polls, we are delusional if we think we are free.”
Sparham began his career as a photojournalist documenting stories around the world for the Sunday Times Magazine. He has also worked for Time, The Telegraph Magazine and The Independent.
Now, Sparham specialises in cinema photography and his work can be seen on the posters for films such as
and His collection of photographs of the ANC in exile is a powerful reminder of the struggle for freedom – and how expectations from 1990 stack up against our current reality.
O’Connell said in 2016, as South Africa faces the assaults of violence, an education system in crisis, corruption and selfish leadership, the pictures are a reminder of the values espoused in the Freedom Charter. “The lines between rich and poor, black, white and coloured are as visible as they were decades ago, and we have been derailed in our quest for freedom by fostering a climate which allows Marikana to happen and the spending of hundreds of millions on Nkandla.”
O’Connell said the images may stir people to remember what was fought for all those years ago. “These images are a call to action for ordinary South Africans that we are capable of spectacular things; that the black, green and gold has a legacy, and it is time those colours sparkle once more.”
Visit the exhibition at the Michaelis Gallery on UCT’s Hiddingh Campus on Orange Street in the city centre.
THE LINES BETWEEN RICH AND POOR, BLACK, WHITE AND COLOURED ARE AS VISIBLE AS THEY WERE DECADES AGO, AND WE HAVE BEEN DERAILED IN OUR QUEST FOR FREEDOM