Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1982 (Creation)
Level of description
Subseries
Extent and medium
4 pages
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Medu Art Ensemble was formed by South Africa exiles in Gaborone, Botswana, in 1978. The organisation produced a wealth of creative work across all major art-forms; the roup further played a key role in shaping aesthetic and cultural theory and praxis within Africanist and liberation struggles. On June 14 1985, the South African Defence Force attacked the homes of Medu members and other activists in Gaborone, killing 12 people; Medu as an organisation ceased to exist.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Repository
Archival history
Paper presented at the Culture and Resistance Conference, Gaborone, 5-9 July 1982.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Art should be a cognitive process, rather than transfer of skills and technique. In the context of an artistic culture which is afflicted by oppression and exploitation, art must be a process which people can relate to, identify with and be a part of. The article argues that art must teach people, "in the most vivid and imaginative ways ... how to take control of their own experience and observations" and how to link these to a just and free society.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Permission to publish must be obtained from the Medu Art Ensemble Project.