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The Democratisation of Art: Cap As an Alternative Art Space In THE DEMOCRATISATION OF ART: CAP AS AN ALTERNATIVE ART SPACE IN SOUTH AFRICA BY EBEN LOCHNER SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR MASTER OF ARTS AT RHODES UNIVERSITY. 02 JUNE 2011 SUPERVISOR: PROF. RUTH SIMBAO. Declaration of originality. I declare that this thesis is my own work and that all the sources I have used have been acknowledged by complete references. This thesis is being submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for Master of Art at Rhodes University. I declare that it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at another university. __________________ __________________ Signature Date This thesis is dedicated to the late Dr. Michael Herbst who made me enthusiastic about Art History during my 1st year at university. He supported me with his time and his advice and his presence is sorely missed. Abstract While formal arts education was inaccessible to many during Apartheid, community-based centres played a significant role in the training of previously disadvantaged artists. By engaging in a socio-political critique of the history of South African art, this thesis argues that even though alternative art spaces are often marginalised, they remain essential to the diversification and democratisation of contemporary South African art today with its re-entry into the international art scene. According to Lize van Robbroeck (2004:52), “some of the fundamental ideals of community arts need to be revised to enrich, democratize and diversify [South Africa's] cultural practice.” The aim of my Thesis is to investigate this statement in relation to the contribution the Community Arts Project (CAP) in Cape Town (1977-2003). CAP and other art centres have played an indispensable role in the establishment of black artists and in producing a locally reflective artistic practice in South Africa, even into the 21st century. Through researching the changes the organisation underwent between the 1980s and 1990s, the ways in which such art centres constantly need to respond to the changing socio- political landscape around them become clear. Within South Africa these centres were seen to play a significant part in the liberation struggle and then later in nation building. While these centres were well supported by foreign donors in the late 1980s, such funding was withdrawn in 1991 and the majority of art centres collapsed, illustrating to some degree that the training of artist was not valued outside the context of the struggle against apartheid. By interviewing key people and by reading documentation stored at the Manuscripts and Archives department of UCT I have discovered some of the different benefits and hindrances of working in community art centres both during and after Apartheid. This thesis argues that these centres still play a vital role in contributing to the development of South Africa's local art practice and should not be relegated to the sideline. Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….………………………………… V List of Illustrations…………………….…………………………………………………………………. VI INTRODUCTION: THE DEMOCRATISATION OF ART IN SOUTH AFRICA……………..………... 1 CHAPTER 1: STRUGGLING TOWARDS SELF-DEFINTION IN BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN ART 1940-1977……………………………………………………….. 12 1.1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH AFRICAN MODERNISM…..……………………. 16 1.2. THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF POLLY STREET AND RORKE’S DRIFT ART CENTRES…………………………………………………….. 24 1.3. TOWNSHIP ART: A RESTRICTIVE DISCOURSE OF AUTHENTICITY……………. 35 1.4. BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS: RESISTANCE, SELF-DEFINITION, AND THE ROLE OF ART………………………………………………………….…... 43 1.5. CONCLUSION: A NEW WAVE OF ART CENTRES………………………….............. 53 CHAPTER 2: DEMOCRATISING ART UNDER APARTHEID: CAP 1977-1991……...……………… 55 2.1.“EACH ONE TEACH ONE”: THE DEMOCRATISATION OF ART AT CAP….…….. 56 2.2. THE POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF 'COMMUNITY' AT CAP……………………. 65 2.3. THE 1982 GABARONE CONFERENCE: A NEW DISCOURSE FOR ART…........…. 72 2.4. THE CULTURAL WORKER: THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING FREEDOM……………………………………………………. 79 2.5. DEMOCRATISATION OF THE ARTS AND ‘PEOPLE’S CULTURE’……………… 85 2.5.1. PEOPLE’S PARKS ……………………………………………………………… 86 2.5.2. MURALS………………………………………………………………………… 89 2.5.3. POSTER………………………………………………………………………….. 92 2.6. BETWEEN LIBERALISM AND POLTICAL RELEVANCE: CAP IN THE 1980s….. 95 2.7. CONCLUSION: CAP'S CONTIRBUTION UNDER APARTHEID…………………… 103 CHAPTER 3: FROM COUNTER-CULTURE TO DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME: CAP 1991-2003…………………………………………………………………….…. 106 3.1. CAP'S FINANCIAL CRISIS AT THE END OF APARTHEID………………………… 109 3.2. THE NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK (NQF) AS A MEANS OF REDRESS………………………………………………………... 113 3.3. THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE NGO: FROM WATCHDOG TO PROP………….. 117 3.4. GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTS AT DEMOCRATISATION OF THE ARTS………….. 124 3.5. CAP'S NEW DEVELOPMENTAL FOCUS………………………………………......... 129 3.7. CONCLUSION: CAP'S SUCCESSES AT TRAINING……………………………...… 139 3.6. A CRITIQUE OF NEO-LIBERAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARTS………................ 135 3.7. CONCLUSION: CAP'S SUCCESSES AT TRAINING………………………..….…… 139 CHAPTER 4: SEARCHING FOR SOUTH AFRICAN EXPRESSION………………………………… 142 4.1 CREATING “SOUTH AFRICANESS” IN THE VISUAL ART……………………….. 143 4.2. ENGAGING SOUTH AFRICAN CULTURE AND POLITICS: THE WORK OF DYALOYI AND NGQINAMBI…………………………………….………………….. 153 4.3. CONCLUSION: CREATING SPACES FOR CRITICAL ENGAGEMENT…….…….. 162 CONCLUSION: DIVERSIFYING AND DEMOCRATISING SOUTH AFRICAN ART………….…... 163 APPENDIX A: CAP ART CLASSES 1987………………...………………….………………………… 167 APPENDIX B: CAP FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME STUDENTS 1977-2003……..………………… 168 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………………... 171 ILLUSTRATIONS……………………………………………………………………………………….. 195 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Ruth Simbao. Without her insights and tireless editing this thesis could not have been written. I would like to thank Mario Pissarra who responded in great detail to numerous e-mails regarding the history of the Community Arts Project. I would also like to thank the staff of the Manuscripts and Archives department of UCT who were very helpful in finding information regarding CAP’s history. I would like to extend a special thanks to Leslie Hart who gave me access to material on CAP which had not yet been categorized. The National Arts Council, The National Research Fund, and Rhodes University ensured that I had the finances needed to complete this thesis. Thanks to my parents for their support during this time. Finally a special thanks to God, who sustained me by His grace, through Christ Jesus. v List of Illustrations. Figure 1. George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba, Girls in a hut (1944), watercolour, 26.2x36.7cm. (Reproduction taken from Hudleston, S. 1996. George Pemba: Against All Odds. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. p34) Figure 2. George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba, Xhosa Woman (1955), watercolour and gouche on paper, 36.5x27cm. (Reproduction taken from Hudleston, S. 1996. George Pemba: Against All Odds. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. p111) Figure 3. George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba, The Convert (1946), oil on Canvas, 25x30cm. (Reproduction taken from Hudleston, S. 1996. George Pemba: Against All Odds. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. p103) Figure 4. John Koenakeefe Mohl, Magaliesberg in Mid Winter (1943), oil on canvas. (Reproduction taken from Manaka, M. 1987. Echoes of African Art: a Century of Art in South Africa. Braamfontein: Skotaville. p61) Figure 5. Gerard Sekoto, Yellow Houses. A Street in Sophiatown (1940), oil on board, 50.8x74.5cm, Johannesburg Art Gallery. (Reproduction taken from http://www.artsouthafrica.com/). Figure 6. Gerard Sekoto. The Waiting Room (1940), watercolour and gouache on paper, 24.5x34.5cm. (Reproduction taken from http://www.stevenson.info/exhibitions/modern/sekoto3.htm) Figure 7. Gerard Sekoto, Workers on a Saturday (1941), oil on board, 41x51.5cm, Campbell Smith Collection. (Reproduction taken from Proud, H. and Becker, R. (Eds), Revisions: expanding the narrative of South African art: the Campbell Smith collection. Pretoria: UNISA Press. Colour Plate 61.) Figure 8. John Koenakeefe Mohl, Old and rusty houses, Newclaire Johannesburg. Transvaal, South Africa (1942), oil on canvas, 35x49.5cm. Campbell Smith Collection. (Reproduction taken from Proud, H. and Becker, R.(eds), Revisions: expanding the narrative of South African art : the Campbell Smith collection. Pretoria: UNISA Press. Colour Plate 70.) Figure 9. John Koenakeefe Mohl, Only a patch of sunshine (1968), oil on board, 61x88.5cm, private collection. (Reproduction taken from http://www.artnet.com/) Figure 10. Gerard Sekoto, Song of the pick (1946-47) Oil on canvas board, 49x 59.9cm. (Reproduction taken from Peffer. 2009. Art and the end of Apartheid. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Colour Plate 1) Figure 11. Gerard Sekoto, Portrait of a young man reading (1946-47), oil on canvas board, 25.4x35.2cm. (Reproduction taken from http://www.art.co.za/ ). Figure 12. George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba, ANC Funeral in the Red Location, Port Elizabeth (1965), oil on board, 49x66cm. (Reproduction taken from Seidman, J. 2007, Red on black: the story of the South African poster movement, STE Publishers: South African History Archives, Johannesburg. p40) vi Figure 13. George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba, No Work (1948), watercolour, 33.4 cm24.8 cm. (Reproduction taken from Hudleston, S. 1996. George Pemba: Against All Odds. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. p107) Figure 14. George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba, Centenary (1970), oil on board, 55x37cm. (Reproduction taken from Hudleston, S. 1996. George Pemba: Against All Odds. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. p121) Figure
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