Membership Cards for the Culture and Resistance Conference.

"There is an undeniable responsibility of photographers in South Africa to use photography as a medium to establish a democratic country". The author argues that a sensitivity to everyday experiences is key to realising this responsibility. The paper deals with the "role of culture in photographic communication, the formation of our [South Africa's] resistance culture, our country's uniqueness and how this affects the level of awareness of people, the relevance of technique and the outlets for committed photography".

What is the role of the visual artist in the struggle and how is it judged as "art"? Gavin Jantjes discusses how visual art should challenge the interiorisation of Western artistic evaluation (and its pressures on artistic quality) and rather appeal to instill in ones own community a meaningful interest in both their culture and art. He regards black artists as being sidelined on the global stage and urges artists to fight racism and eurocentricism in art.

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.

Keya Tomaselli proposes strategies for independent and radical cinema to grow in South Africa, especially considering the oppressive context of Apartheid. He argues for "Ter Cinema", a radical tradition of filmmaking which would create films for the oppressed majority. Tomaselli critiques a range of films and proposes new directions for filmmaking, starting with more engaged and radical film departments in universities. He reflects that cinema has often been called the "dream factory" and that "dreams are to be found in all levels of filmmaking, including those productions which set out to challenge the status quo".

Original silkscreen printed folder for the Culture and Resistance Symposium/Festival in 1982, Gaborone, Botswana. Artwork by Thami Mnyele.

Information page given to conference delegates giving details of the rules, meal arrangements, venues and a map of the conference site.

Nadine Gordimer writes this insightful paper on the key concepts of "relevance" and "commitment" in relation to black and white writers. She argues that black writers write from their communities and have daily lives which are embedded within relevant contexts. So too, their commitment to black liberation is innate. She suggests that white writers ought to break out of white value systems and a false consciousness to create relevant art and to openly admit that their experience as being white is of a different order to being black. These are the imperatives which both black and white writers face. The whole aim of art, in its attainment of truth and essence, requires the white writer to attain a true consciousness so that both black and white writers may work for the same end.

This document, composed by the Medu Art Collective, is a political input calling for a cultural boycott against Apartheid. This boycott aims at foreign artistic or cultural groups touring South Africa, boycotting the Apartheid government's cultural events and for progressive organisations to collectively and diligently organise these boycotts against Apartheid.

Is the concept of "black poetry" valid? James Matthews argues that black poetry has become a powerful force in South Africa. He suggests that poetry by and about the black majority is locally grounded and people no longer look toward America for such inspiration. Matthews draws links between black poetry, black consciousness and black power.