Art and the end of apartheid

by John Peffer

"This is the first book to fully explore cosmopolitan modern art by black South Africans under apartheid" "Black South African artists have typically had their work labeled "African art" or "township art," qualifiers that, when contrasted with simply "modernist art," have been used to marginalize their work both in South Africa and internationally." "In Art and the End of Apartheid, John Peffer considers in depth the work of black South African artists in the decades leading up to the end of apartheid in 1994. Peffer examines painting and graphic art, photography, avant-garde and performance art, and popular and protest art through artist collectives (such as the Thupelo Art Project and the Medu Art Ensemble) and individuals such as Durant Sihlali and Santu Mofokeng. He shows how South African artists imagined what "postapartheid" could mean during the time of apartheid, even as they struggled with immediate issues of censorship, militancy, street violence and torture, and, more broadl