An exhibition that considers photography’s role in South Africa’s composite transformation opens at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 21 August 2010. Titled Darkroom: Photography and New Media in South Africa since 1950 The exhibition includes 18 artists who span four generations: fourteen are South African; four are from the England, the United States, and Germany, and either made South Africa their home or created significant bodies of work there. Featured Goodman Gallery represented artists are William Kentridge, Nontsikelelo Veleko and Sue Williamson.
The exhibition’s eight sections highlight the ways that these artists have addressed South African culture from various perspectives, and their increased presence in the global art world since 1994. “The social and political transformation of South Africa is one of the most remarkable stories of the second half of the twentieth century,” says Alex Nyerges, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. “To engage with it directly through the eyes of those who experienced and documented the anguish, turmoil and elation of the period is both uplifting and thought-provoking.”
A preview for VMFA members is scheduled for August 20 from 6 to 9 p.m. On August 26, there will be a screening of the 2002 film “Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony” at 6 p.m. This award-winning documentary looks at the role of music in the struggle for freedom in South Africa. After the screening, producer JohnathanDorfman will discuss the film.
Darkroom: Photography and New Media in South Africa since 1950 will run until 24 October 2010.
