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12/5/2000

Liberated Voices

Museum Art, Austin

During the past decade, South Africa has experienced an extraordinary series of political and cultural transformations that resulted in the downfall of apartheid in 1994 and the forging of a democratic society in its place. Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa is the first major exhibition to explore the work of a younger generation of South African artists that has emerged since this transition, whose members strive to address issues unique to the present moment in their country's history-including self-identity, cultural diversity, and social responsibility. This exhibition features over 50 works in varied media-sculpture, paintings, installations, and photographs-alongside extensive interviews that highlight the background of each artist and give insight into the diversity of artistic responses engendered by the changes now occurring in South Africa.

In the past, many South African artists, whatever their background, created art that predominantly sought to bring down apartheid. Since that time, the political aspect of their work has become less explicit, while identity has developed as a focal point of artistic exploration in a society that includes people of African, Asian, and European origin. The artists in Liberated Voices reveal two broad tendencies in their effort to come to terms with the legacy of apartheid: Some create works that are decidedly autobiographical in nature, with many reflecting upon the subtly complex relationships between blacks and whites. Others recycle the discarded materials of daily life from the township past to fashion reinvigorated visions of the future. Mbongeni Richman Buthelezi, one of the most important artists of this new generation, melts plastic bags of different colors to use as paints, while Samson Mnisi and Thabiso Phokompe combine traditional African materials and Western art media to comment on the shifting relationships of power within South African society. Liberated Voices places the contemporary art of South Africa within a wider global context, showing how South African artists have absorbed and re-interpreted concepts drawn from Western art. It also demonstrates the impact that these artists, experiencing an unprecedented freedom of expression, have made on the cultivation of dialogue and discussion within a culture in flux-making art an essential component in a society's reinvention of itself.

Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa is the first exhibition of art from this nation to be presented in Texas. The exhibition was organized by the Museum for African Art, curated by Frank Herreman and co-curated by Mark D'Amato. It is made possible by generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. Major funding has been provided by grants from the Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa; the LEF Foundation; Jason H. Wright, and Jerome and Ellen Stern. A fully illustrated catalogue with essays by leading South African critics and art historians will be available. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of educational programs for adults and young people, including an enhanced website at www.amoa.org and an on-site Electronic Learning Lab available at the Museum with which visitors can interact. An exhibition of works produced through ArtReach at The Park at the Children's Hospital of Austin will be on display in the Learning Lab through the duration of the Liberated Voices exhibition.

Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa presents paintings, sculptures and installations created between 1994, the end of the apartheid era and 1999. This period coincides with Nelson Mandela's term as the first President of the new South Africa. No longer isolated by sanctions, South Africa showed its desire to be reintegrated into the international community, organizing two international Johannesburg Biennales of 1995 and 1997. South African artists had a strong presence at both events as well as in other Pan-African and International art shows.

An understanding of post-apartheid South Africa art is enhanced by an awareness of the work known as Resistance Art that distinguishes the apartheid era because it protested against the oppressive white government. Liberated Voices begins with an introductory section of four artists who were already active in the late 70's and 80's, while apartheid was in its most violent phase. The exhibition continues with the presentation of works made by nine artists, who express themselves in different ways and through a diverse range of media.

The intention of this exhibition is to permit the artists to present themselves through their own work and words. South African artists were asked to identify colleagues whose work they considered representative of the new South Africa. In sum, the result that you see here is an insider's look at a moment in time in the new South Africa.

This exhibition is curated by Frank Herreman, Director of Exhibitions, Museum for African Art, and co-curated by Mark D'Amato. Major funding for the Exhibition is provided by Jason H. Wright with supporting grants by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts; the Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa; the LEF Foundation; and Jerome and Ellen Stern; and the River Manor (Stellenbosch)

Artist
Paul Stopforth
David Koloane
Sue Williamson
Willie Bester
Brett Murray
Zwelethu Mthethwa
Mbongeni Richman Buthelezi
Penny Siopis
Samson Mnisi
Thabiso Phokompe
Bridget Baker
Sandile Zulu
Claudette Schreude

AMOA-Downtown
823 Congress Ave.
Austin, TX 78701

phone: 512.495.9224
fax: 512.495.9029

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Thurs 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Sun noon-5 p.m.

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