Collaboration is the buzzword at the Market
Theatre Foundation and now the Market Theatre and Nelson Mandela Foundation
have brokered a new partnership.
A new partnership at the Market Photo
Workshop will reinforce its reputation as a leader in South African photography
when the Market Theatre Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Foundation sign a
memorandum of understanding to place the valuable collection Between States of
Emergency in the custody of the Market Photo Workshop. The photographs in this
exhibition were created in the years between July 21 1985, when the State of
Emergency was declared, until June 7 1990 when it was lifted in three of the
then-four provinces of the Republic of South Africa. In the remaining province
of Natal, the State of Emergency was lifted on October 18, 1990. Thus, the date
on which this collection of work will be handed over also marks 27 years since
this event.
The images emphasize the critical role that
photography and photographers played in the fight against apartheid and its
unjust systems. The images became the communicator to the rest of the world
about the plight of South Africans living under the country’s oppressive laws.
The exhibition is made up of works by the
following photographers: Anna Zieminski, Guy Tillim, Joe Alfers, Gille de
Vlieg, Chris Ledochowski, Juda Ngwenya, Ismail Lagardien, Jenny Altschuler,
Jillian Edelstein, Ellen Elmendorp, Greg English, Louise Gubb, Hetty Zantman,
Zubeida Vallie, Trevor Samson, Lesley Lawson, Eric Miller, Deseni Soobben,
Steve Hilton-Barber, Mike Hutchings, Jenny Gordon, Walter Dhladhla, Billy
Paddock, Peter Magubane. The exhibition itself was curated by renowned
photojournalist Robin Comley.
“The Market Photo Workshop’s custodianship
of this photographic exhibition will be an important supplement to our
curriculum, training and reference resources. It will also add an important
dynamic to our public programming activities towards curating exhibitions and
public engagement sessions that integrate and engage works produced pre-freedom
and post-freedom to better understand and appreciate the shifts within the
photography landscape of South Africa,” said Lekgetho Makola, the Head of the Market
Photo Workshop.
The MOU also marks the first collaboration
between the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Market Theatre Foundation since
Ismail Mahomed has taken up his tenure as CEO.
“Like the rich legacy of productions that
have been presented on the stages of the Market Theatre this photographic
exhibition also represents an important period of the cultural practice in
South Africa. We are honoured that the Nelson Mandela Foundation recognizes and
trusts our efforts, our integrity and our capacity to tell South African
stories through words and images,” said Ismail Mahomed, CEO of the Market
Theatre Foundation.
The signing of the MOU between the Market
Theatre Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Foundation will take place at the
Market Photo Workshop on October 18.
For further information, contact Lusanda
Zokufa, Senior Publicist, Market Theatre, on 011 832 1641 ext 202 or 072 367
7867 or email: lusandaz@markettheatre.co.za
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