Visit guide for teachers

South African Artthe art of a nation

Planning your visitProvide a focus for students to keep in mind as they explore the exhibition and which you can follow up afterwards Do some preparatory work in school to develop

the focus of the visit and familiarise students with the content of the exhibition

Allow students some scope to explore and find objects that interest them

Curriculum LinksThe exhibition offers opportunities in the following curriculum areas and for cross-curricular work:

History: Nelson Mandela, apartheid, the anti-apartheid movement, protest, black history, hidden histories

Art and Design: Contemporary art and artists, colour, shape, pattern, materials, abstract art, collage, indigenous art

PSHE and Citizenship: self-identity, community identity, human rights and encountering and responding to other cultures

Transitions by Willie Bester (1993)

Using this resourceThis resource is designed to support your visit to the South African Art: The Art of a Nation exhibition.

It offers opportunities to work the exhibition into learning across the curriculum. To accompany this resource there is a downloadable powerpoint image bank and a set of worksheets that can be adapted to suit the needs of your students.

Introduction to the exhibition

South African archaeology preserves some of the earliest evidence for artistic thought and production anywhere in the world, beginning over three million years ago. Today, South African artists frequently work in a dialogue with the past, creating contemporary art that provides unique insights into South African history. This exhibition shows art from South Africa from the past to the present, and provides a unique insight into what it means to be South African.

Using the exhibitionIn advanceDecide on a focus for the visit and a follow up activity. Use the image bank to familiarise students with some of the exhibition content. Download and adapt worksheets to meet your needs. Go through exhibition activities with the students and accompanying adults beforehand.

On the dayEncourage adults to allow students to linger at objects which interest them and to discuss what they see and share ideas as they go round. Remind students to behave calmly and politely. Photography is not allowed in the exhibition, but students may take photographs in the Museum’s permanent galleries.

AfterwardsUse what the students have gathered in the exhibition/Museum galleries for follow up activities back at school.

The ‘big’ questionsPose a big question for students to keep in mind during their visit to the exhibition. Here are some possible examples:

Which did I think, and why, was the most interesting object in the exhibition?

What did I learn about the history of South Africa that I did not know before?

What sources of evidence did the exhibition include and how useful did I find these for learning about people in the past?

How can contemporary art be used to understand social, historical and emotional environments?

How powerful is art as a way to explore history?

Exhibition themesVisit guide for teachersSouth African Art: The Art of a Nation 1

Section 1: Introduction

This section introduces the art of South Africa’s first people San|Bushmen|Khoekhoen through one historic and one contemporary artwork. It will explain that although rock art is no longer practiced in South Africa, descendants of San|Bushmen|Khoekhoen are returning to their histories to produce new artworks in new mediums. It will also explore the importance of rock art today as it is used in the post-apartheid South African Coat of Arms. In each section the juxtaposition of one historic and one contemporary artwork introduces the way in which contemporary South African art often enters into a dialogue with the past.

Section 2: Early Art (c. 3,000,000 to 2000 years before present)

Focusing on the display of five key artworks from South Africa’s deep past; this section introduces visitors to the idea of the development of artistic behaviour throughout history. The artworks introduce various ideas such as symbolic thought, the movement toward the production of aesthetically pleasing objects, early decoration, and early two dimensional figurative art. These artworks are placed in dialogue with two contemporary artworks, by the artist Karel Nel. Nel has often engaged his art with science and the deep past, for example, the early twentieth century discovery that modern human activities first appeared in southern Africa, and on other works his use of red and white ochre as both a reference to ancient artistic traditions in South Africa and the colour divide of apartheid.

Section 3: Sculpture (c. AD 500 to 1650)

Following the migration of Bantu-speakers into the region, this section explores how the shift from more dispersed, small-scale societies to more centralised and hierarchical ones, in the first millennium AD, led to new developments in artistic production, such as the creation of three dimensional figurative art and specialised artisans attached to states. These artworks are important in contemporary South Africa for many reasons, not least because they are evidence that complex, sedentary, Bantu-speaking societies existed in the region immediately prior to the arrival of European settlers. In this section iconic historic art works sit alongside more recent and contemporary pieces that encourage people to

challenge official knowledge sanctioned by the apartheid state.

Section 4: European and Asian Arrivals and Colonial Conflicts (c. AD 1652 to 1910)

Section 4 explores the arrival of non-African populations and the later encounters and conflicts between colonial settlers and southern African societies. Beginning with the arrival of the first Dutch settlers in 1652 before including British, Dutch East Indies, Chinese, and Indian immigrations. The following section then discusses a selection of colonial conflicts including the Anglo-Zulu War and Second South African War of the late 19th and very early 20th centuries.

Section 5: Rural South African Art (AD 1800 to 1900)

This section focuses on rural South African art from the 19th century and social values and beliefs at this time. These artworks today are a proud part of South Africa’s artistic heritage, but their existence is also related to colonial collecting practices.

Section 6: Experiencing and Resisting Segregation and Apartheid (c. AD 1910 to 1989) and Transformation (c. AD 1990 to Present)

This section looks at the issue of segregation through the use of art works and protest such as Ndebele traditional beadwork and photographs of richly decorated Ndebele houses in response to displacement. It also explores Resistance Art from the apartheid era and Anti-Apartheid Movement badges. Key artworks that explore the ‘Transformation’ of South Africa from an apartheid state into a democratic nation are explored and how the period of transformation extends to the present.

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Ox Snuffbox by unrecorded Xhosa artist (1800-1899)

The narrative discusses historic events and issues relevant to transformation such as the first democratic elections, the idea of the Rainbow Nation, the persistence of the landscape of apartheid, the legacy of apartheid and the contemporary and future identity of South Africa.

Curricular opportunitiesin 6 objects.6 objects that you can explore to compliment History, PSHE and Citizenship and Art and Design with suggested activities. Each object is cross curricular and can be used to teach all subjects above.

HistorySpotlight objects:Anti-apartheid badges (artist(s) unrecorded) and A Reversed Retrogress by Mary Sibande. Slide 1 and 2 in the accompanying powerpoint.

Follow up activities:

Badges were worn to demonstrate personal support for anti-apartheid campaigns. Use them to think about the range of methods used inside and outside South Africa to oppose apartheid.

Compare the badges with other types of evidence from the time and debate how useful they are in helping us to understand anti-apartheid protest movements.

Throughout history, artists and designers like Mary Sibande have highlighted the key issues for society in their work. Select

examples from across the exhibition and assess what issues they raise and how these fit into the timeline of South Africa’s past.

PSHE and Citizenship

Spotlight object:The Black Photo Album / Look At Me: Santu Mafokeng (1997) and Pantomime Act Trilogy: Johannes Phokela (1999). Slide 3 and 4 in the accompanying powerpoint.

Follow up activities: Debate the potential relationship between existing

and new settlers living alongside each other – should existing settlers insist that everybody follows their culture, should new settlers keep their culture?

Explore the idea of families, race and identity by exploring the art work Black Photo album.

Using Johannes Phokela’s work, explore the impact of western charity in the developing world and discuss why the child in the centre wears a red nose made famous by UK charity Comic Relief.

Art and Design

Spotlight object:South African Colouring Book - Gavin Jantjes and Transitions by Willie Bester. Slide 5 and 6 in the accompanying power point.

Explore the use of collage and colour in Gavin Jantjes work to make a political statement. Compare to other contemporary artists that also use art to send powerful a message.

Bester's works are collages assembled from scraps and junk from flea markets, found objects and newspaper clippings, combined with the use of oil paints and photographs. The themes of the art works stem from the political issues of the time: forced removals and brutalisation, crime, greed, poverty and corruption. Using your identity as inspiration, create an art work either as individuals as a group using foraged materials.

Compare and contrast two art works from the exhibition. Explore what they are trying to tell the viewer about the past or the present.

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South African Colouring Book, Gavin Jantjes