PROMISES AND LIES THE ANC, EXILE & THE PROJECT OF FREEDOM

Curated by Siona O’Connell, and presented by the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD) VIAD +27 (0)11 559 1442 11 May - 3 June 2017 [email protected] www.viad.co.za FADA Gallery www.facebook.com/viad.fada Bunting Road Campus FADA Gallery University of Johannesburg +27 (0)11 559 1386 Exhibition opens: Thursday 11 May, 18h00 for 18h30 [email protected] Exhibition opens: Thursday 11th May 2017, 18h00 for 18h30 www.fadagallery.blogspot.co.za IncludesOpening the address documentary, by Dr Mathews ‘Promises Phosaand Lies - Fault Lines in the ANC’ www.facebook.com/FADAgallery Includes the documentary ‘Promises and Lies - Fault Lines in the ANC’

Image credit: Josiah Jele, Jacob Zuma, Tony Mongalo and Ray Simons. Tanzania. 1990 (Courtesy of Laurie Sparham) PROMISES AND LIES THE ANC, EXILE & THE PROJECT OF FREEDOM

Curated by Siona O’Connell, and presented by the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD) ​

The years 1989-1991 marked a world in transition, with revolutions in the Eastern Bloc, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and in , the dismantling of . Events critical to the latter tran- sition – from white minority rule to multiracial democracy – included the unbanning of organisa- tions like the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress (PAC); the return of political exiles; the release of and other political prisoners; and the initiation of political negotiations in the country.

The past three years have signaled in South Africa another kind of turning-point – a critical shift, charged by student-lead protests aimed at forms of institutionalised racism and the slow pace of transformation in universities; the increasing proliferation of service-delivery protests across the country; and in general, a growing disenchantment with the social imaginaries of ‘Rainbowism’ and the ‘New South Africa’. In addition to this, charges of corruption, mismanagement and state- capture have brought Government and the integrity of the ANC into disrepute.

Commissioned by the ANC, taken by award-winning British photographer Laurie Sparham, and collated by curator and filmmaker Dr Siona O’Connell, the photographs in this exhibition chroni- cle the experience of ANC exiles living in Tanzania and Zambia from 1989-1990. Shelved for over twenty-five years, this important photographic archive speaks to the aspirations of the libera- tion struggle – and, in the interests of an as-of-yet unrealised freedom, poses difficult questions around history and its resonances in the present. Featuring a probing documentary by O’Connell, titled Promises & Lies – Fault Lines in the ANC, the exhibition offers viewers a chance to consider the sacrifices of political exile and the promise of freedom that was its aspiration, in relation to a current landscape of political and economic crisis in which contemporary South Africans are per- sonally and collectively complicit. This provocative new exhibition offers a necessary and timeous platform for creative encounters and critical dialogue around collective memory, accountability and the ongoing demand for active citizenry.

The exhibition will be opened by Dr Mathews Phosa

FADA Gallery Bunting Road Campus, FADA Building, University of Johannesburg / maps Opening hours: Tues-Fri 09h00-16h00, Sat 09h00-13h00

Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD) www.viad.co.za / https://www.facebook.com/viad.fada

For more information contact: James Macdonald +27(0) 84 566 2121 / [email protected]

Media & and Press: Lindsay McDonald +27(0) 76 101 0421 / [email protected] # P r o m i s e s A n d L i e s All images courtesy of laurie Sparham