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Like all of us, Gil Scott-Heron was a profoundly flawed individual, battling his demons while reaching out for a seemingly illusive truth. What worth is there in our lives for the well-grounded, immacutely groomed Oprahesque superhuman role model for us mortals who...
“Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” Frantz Fanon The South African crisis: Post-apartheid South Africa can only be described as in a continuing state of crisis. After nearly twenty years of jobless...
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...
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...
Artist Brett Murray, in his affidavit, explains why he painted 'The Spear' "At the outset, I would like to say that I am a proud South African and a former supporter of the ANC. I am not a racist. I do not produce art with an intention to hurt, humiliate or insult,...
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....
“At the outset, I would like to say that I am a proud South African and a former supporter of the ANC. I am not a racist. I do not produce art with an intention to hurt, humiliate or insult, and that includes the painting that has caused this controversy. I...