Home and away: A return to the south

26 May–3 July 2011

During the apartheid years in South Africa and despite the difficulties, many artists expressed their feelings about their adversity in vigorous, powerful artworks. However, there were no markets or venues where this art could be seen and this resulted in much of the work leaving South Africa.  The Ifa Lethu ("Our Heritage") Foundation's mission has been to repatriate this otherwise lost artistic testament by building a collection of apartheid era South African art. A second collection, Art Against Apartheid, founded in France in 1980 was a rallying point for international artists to create works in solidarity with oppressed South Africans. With this exhibition, Home and away: A Return to the South, works from both collections are juxtaposed to explore the similarities and differences between art created by an oppressed population and work made by outsiders expressing support for those people.

Download the education resource sheet here (1.3MB)

Curated by Carol Brown and toured by the Ifa Lethu Foundation.

Image: Patrick Betaudier 1928-2008, 'Pour une poignee de billes' (detail), 1981-2, oil on canvas, 123 x 122 cm. UWC Robben Island Museum - Mayibuye Archives