Degree Program
Graduate
Major
Art History
Abstract
Sue Williamson has come to hold an esteemed and influential role in the South African art world not only for her literary gifts as the author of several books about South African art (perhaps most notably her first book, Resistance Art in South Africa, published in 1989), but also as an artist whose work often deals with the social, political, and conceptual repercussions of apartheid in South Africa. Indeed, much of her development as an artist stemmed from her activism during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa beginning in the late 1970’s and has evolved to include the contemporary issues that affect the articulation of South African identity. In her 1998 series, Truth Games, Williamson reacts to the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which considered the straightforward acts of politically motivated violence (rather than broad structural violence) that took place between 1960 and 1993, at the hands of both the apartheid government and liberation movement. Using interactive pieces, Williamson presents various examples of cases from the Commission hearings, prompting the audience to consider the role of the commission in the healing/not healing of South Africa post-apartheid. The interactivity of the series comes from the movable transparent horizontal slats containing phrases from transcript hearings imposed over appropriated images of the people involved in whichever particular case the piece is addressing. Combined, the myriad of conceptual and tactile elements of Sue Williamson’s Truth Games series not only allow for a thorough exploration of the intricacies of power, representation, and identity, particularly relevant forces in South Africa during the liminal post-apartheid period, but also of how art itself has the ability to articulate and exude power in a profound and impactful capacity.
Start Date
13-2-2015 10:40 AM
End Date
13-2-2015 11:50 AM
Included in
Truth Games: Negotiating Power, Identity and the Spirit of Resistance in Contemporary South African Art
Sue Williamson has come to hold an esteemed and influential role in the South African art world not only for her literary gifts as the author of several books about South African art (perhaps most notably her first book, Resistance Art in South Africa, published in 1989), but also as an artist whose work often deals with the social, political, and conceptual repercussions of apartheid in South Africa. Indeed, much of her development as an artist stemmed from her activism during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa beginning in the late 1970’s and has evolved to include the contemporary issues that affect the articulation of South African identity. In her 1998 series, Truth Games, Williamson reacts to the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which considered the straightforward acts of politically motivated violence (rather than broad structural violence) that took place between 1960 and 1993, at the hands of both the apartheid government and liberation movement. Using interactive pieces, Williamson presents various examples of cases from the Commission hearings, prompting the audience to consider the role of the commission in the healing/not healing of South Africa post-apartheid. The interactivity of the series comes from the movable transparent horizontal slats containing phrases from transcript hearings imposed over appropriated images of the people involved in whichever particular case the piece is addressing. Combined, the myriad of conceptual and tactile elements of Sue Williamson’s Truth Games series not only allow for a thorough exploration of the intricacies of power, representation, and identity, particularly relevant forces in South Africa during the liminal post-apartheid period, but also of how art itself has the ability to articulate and exude power in a profound and impactful capacity.