Exhibition – Martyrs, Saints and Sellouts | Institute for Creative Arts

The Centre for Curating the Archive at the University of Cape Town presents the photographs of anti-apartheid photographers Benny Gool, Zubeida Vallie and Adil Bradlow, opening on Friday 6 September at the Good Hope Gallery. It is no coincidence that the exhibition opens on September 6th, 2013 at the Castle of Good Hope, the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa. In 1989, this day marked the last ‘white’ election, when many lives were lost amidst widespread protest action.

Curated by Dr Siona O’Connell, this exhibition asks us to consider bodies, places, systemic violence and injuries across the centuries, and compels us to think about the present and the future of this country. The images, many of them taken on the Cape Flats, show well-known activists and politicians, such as Tony Yengeni, Trevor Manuel and Tokyo Sexwale, alongside thousands of nameless activists whose names and faces appear to have disappeared into history.

The opening address will be given by Dr Mary Burton. Dr Burton was National President of the Black Sash from 1986 to 1990, and now serves on its Board of Trustees. From 1995 to 1998 she was a Commissioner on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

This event will take place on Friday 6 September at 18:30, and thereafter the exhibition will be open daily from 09:00-15:30 from 7 September to 11 October at the Good Hope Gallery. For more information please contact Dr Siona O’Connell at sionaoc@gmail.com, or call 021 4807153.

Partners: The Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA), Oryx Multimedia, Solms Delta, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Michaelis School of Fine Art, Sekunjalo Consortium, University of Cape Town (UCT).

Photographs by Adil Bradlow, Zubeida Vallie, and Benny Gool (top to bottom)