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Jeremy Gordin's nine points about the ANC, The Spear and City Press 1. Little Story When I was 14 or 15 and had just discovered thoughtful writers such as, for example, George Orwell, and compassionate ones such as Alan Paton, I mentioned to my father that I was being...
In his book Art and The End of Apartheid, John Peffer writes about the Medu Art Ensemble: “For them a true culture of the people would be one that was not exclusive to the elite of the world of art galleries, but was seen in the streets, on T-shirts and posters (…).”...
The controversy surrounding Brett Murray’s portrait of President Jacob Zuma has stirred up a hornet’s nest. On the one hand, it has elicited outrage even from people I know to have antipathy towards our head of state. On the other, defenders of The Spear feel that...
NEC expresses sentiment of deep pain and betrayal at Brett Murray portrait RE: ANCWL POST POLICY WORKSHOP MEDIA BRIEFING* NEC MEETING OUTCOMES The ANCWL has had an extremely busy weekend, starting on Friday with a very productive NEC meeting at the Airport Grand Hotel...
Mzukisi Makatse on freedom of artistic expression in South Africa The contextual and political understanding of the freedom of artistic expression in South Africa Now that the dust seems to be settling after the storm and hysteria occasioned by The Spear - Brett...
How far can artists go in satirising or sending up the powerful? That is the essence of the brouhaha over Brett Murray’s contentious The Spear painting depicting President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed in a pose reminiscent of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin....
The London 2012 Olympics look set to be a jamboree of profiteering and nationalism. Brian Richardson recalls how past Olympics have been the site of struggles against racism The Olympic Games have been associated with three of the most inspirational moments in the...
Brett Murray's The Spear, a picture of President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed, mimics the pose of the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin in a Soviet-era propaganda poster. Politicians, whenever they are exposed for having said something offensive, often...
The combination of economic crisis, social devastation and open political crisis in ‘weak links’ of the European Project such as Greece has raised the possibility of social and political change. In Greece we have witnessed a sequence of social and political...