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".
This pre-seminar paper from the Publishing and Research Unit entitled "Opening the Doors of Culture" suggests ideas for the a paper to be presented at a seminar in 1982. It gives reflections on how to bring culture to the people and how to use it as a tool for resistance. Handwritten notes on the paper.
The document outlines the background to both the Art Toward Social Development exhibition and the Culture and Resistance Symposium. The exhibition was a culmination of two years work by South African artists who lived in Botswana. The idea came out of a number of individual exhibitions that were held by South African artists at the National Museum and Art Gallery in Gaborone. The holding of the Culture and Resistance Symposium and arts festival was developed for artists and cultural workers to meet and share different ideas. The objectives of the symposium are to expose South African cultural workers to a wide range of cultural work, to expose South African cultural workers to South African cultural developments and to produce a book on South African culture.
In this paper, Keorapetse Kgositsile argues that art and culture play a role in the struggle against Apartheid. Kgositsile, a poet and acclaimed writer, regards literature as being a key site of struggle. He suggests that literature "must serve the interests of the people in their fight against a culture which insists that they should be robbed". Kgositsile reflects on the contributions of literature to the struggle which he believes are both artistic and "functional" to the needs of the people.
