Unisa online - Then & Now photography exhibition

The official opening of the Then & Now photography exhibition was attended by a mixed group of art enthusiasts --- students from Unisa and the Tshwane University of Technology, three of the artists involved in the exhibition and members of the general public.

Prof Andries Oliphant, Chairperson of the Unisa Art Gallery's Acquisitions Committee, opened the exhibition. He was a relevant speaker for the exhibition, because he was involved with some of the artist in the 1980s. He was also a member of the Staffrider magazine in Johannesburg, which had two main objectives, namely to provide publishing opportunities for community-based organisations, young writers, graphic artists and photographers, and to oppose officially sanctioned state and establishment culture. Prof Oliphant worked with Paul Weinberg and George Hallet during those times. Talking about their work and the kind of artistic expressions that they attempted in those days was like taking a trip down memory lane.

Entitled "Then & Now", the collection comprises photographs taken before and after South Africa's transition to democracy. The project has been initiated and curated by the photographer, Paul Weinberg. The other contributors are David Goldblatt, George Hallett, Eric Miller, Cedric Nunn, Guy Tillim, Graeme Williams and Gisele Wulfsohn. Almost all of them were members of Afrapix, the collective photo agency which played a central role in documenting political conflict in South Africa in the 1980s and early 1990s.

This highly acclaimed photographic exhibition will be shown at the Unisa Art Gallery until 8 May 2009.