Prison life
emerged as heritage sites and sites of consciousness directed at redressing issues from a painful history and the representation of that history. It is not only a unique site because it is also the home of the Constitutional Court, but because the people who were incarcerated within its walls were not always political prisoners.
As a result it also becomes part of monuments, museums or sites of trauma that sometimes come across as contradictory and in some instances seem to manipulate history for political objectives where certain narratives obscure an understanding of the history in particular ways.
Meer’s paintings in some way demonstrate how there is a sense of exclusivity and elitism that limits the representation of other kinds of narratives. Although the paintings appear to enhance or fit into
Of the 28 participating this year it appears from a quick head-count that only five are black-owned. The majority of galleries are South African. This has ramifications for a fair that has always prided itself on being representative of the “contemporary African art” on the continent.
Douglas touted this slogan from the beginning. He may have been ahead of his time. He knew African contemporary art would have currency in a hungry global art market, constantly on the search for the “new”. But he did not know how to deliver on this. There weren’t enough thriving commercial galleries on the continent and so he inevitably accepted those specialising in this “genre” based in Western centres, leaving the fair as one that gave a view of the African contemporary through a Eurocentric lens.
This would conflict with Artlogic’s drive to attract buyers and curators from those centres. When the 1:54 the dominant political narrative of famous people incarcerated during the struggle for democracy and who have been given iconic status or are commemorated in various ways in the museum, they also expose the potential to shift a prevailing understanding of what the struggle was about and create an opportunity for alternate platforms for other narratives to be heard.
These alternate narratives are revealed in Meer’s depiction of acts of pleasure and enjoyment such as painting, playing cards or even plaiting hair. In some instances she focuses on the harsh realities of prison life, where documentation seems to take precedence over selfexpression.
Painting could have also been a way to transcend the confines of the prison, because creativity defies the prison’s attempts to make prisoners conform and act in predictable ways — in other words, prisoners can resist attempts to imprison their minds. Most of the paintings therefore have a voyeuristic quality, almost as if Meer was painting as an observer rather than a detainee. It seems she did not only want to show the mundane routine of being in prison but also, as suggested in her diary entry, the very act of painting became political and a form of resistance.
The narration of the struggle narrative has been a profoundly gendered story, one that focuses on masculine public action and populist ideals, but portrays women as background participants. Women are usually framed as nurturers and supporters — “the mothers” of the nation — and most times rendered invisible.
Cultural forms of resistance are also not well represented and recognised in political movements, especially those created by women. Meer’s paintings offer something qualitatively different and acknowledge the role of art and culture as part of the resistance against oppression. Resistance in the liberation movement should not only be understood in political terms, but also as a culmination of ideas aimed at defying an oppressive regime.
The paintings are significant because they suggest a broader understanding of the history of the Women’s Jail, but they also highlight issues of exclusivity about who gets commemorated and in what manner. They therefore act as agents for the unmediated voices of less articulate and less visible women who were also part of this historical site, but whose traces are quickly vanishing into the cracks of history.