Pictures of Bok tour conflict up for sale
Acollection of photos of the divisive 1981 Springbok Tour will go under the hammer next month. Some of the 54 images of the antiapartheid protests were taken by leading photographers including Ans Westra, Gil Hanly, Peter Black and Bruce Connew.
The photos were in the possession of a collector who was “getting older and rationalising his possessions”, said Charles Ninow, director of auction house and art gallery Bowerbank Ninow.
“I was absolutely amazed by the material he had,” Ninow said. “Nobody could see them where they were. Nobody could get any joy from them while they were in storage. Part of the motivation to sell them is that the world would see them again.”
Some of the photos were included in Tom Newnham’s 1981 book about the protest movement, By Batons and
Barbed Wire, but others had not been widely published.
“What we found there were some really striking images that weren’t included in the book that needed to be seen. We decided to unearth some of the photos that haven’t really seen the light of day much,” Ninow said.
The most valuable were a selection of Ans Westra images, expected to go for $3000-$5000, including a photo called Aftermath, Springbok Tour, Wellington — a portrait of a boy wearing a helmet after a protest. Ninow expects interest from beyond New Zealand in some images. And, he said, New Zealand institutions were interested in buying some.
The 1981 tour of New Zealand by the Springboks was welcomed by some rugby fans but vehemently opposed by those who saw it as an acceptance of the apartheid regime.
Protesters filled the streets surrounding the rugby grounds, and in Hamilton invaded the pitch, forcing the game to be called off.
Many protesters wore helmets as they confronted police riot squads armed with long batons. But the conflict was not just between police and protesters but between everyday Kiwis divided on the tour.
The auction will be held at 6.30pm on April 3 at the Bowerbank Ninow Gallery, Karangahape Rd, Auckland.