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R250When Chris Hani was assassinated in his driveway in April 1993, he left a shocked and grieving South Africa, teetering on the precipice of civil war. But to 12-year-old Lindiwe Hani, it was the love of her life, her daddy, who had been brutally ripped from her world. While the nation continued to revere her father’s legacy, for Lindiwe, being Chris Hani’s daughter became an increasingly heavy burden to bear, propelling her into a downward spiral of cocaine and alcohol addiction in a desperate attempt to avoid the pain of his brutal parting.
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R90The media as the medium. The medium is the message. These two propositions—the second from Marshall McLuhan—define the principal axes on which South African artist Siemon Allen (born 1971, Durban, South Africa) articulates his archivally-driven yet self-reflexive practice.
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Edward West uses the metaphorical power of shadow to foreground the shifting visibility of South Africa’s black population post apartheid. From 1997-1999, he traveled in South Africa to photograph the country’s townships, squatter camps, and locations during this historic time of transition. In focusing on the private moments of these newly empowered people within their own communities, West has created a complex, visually compelling study of the ways in which identity is inextricably linked to environment. Utilizing the medium of photography in large scale color Giclee prints, West has developed a rich visual language built on the shadow metaphor that at once moves us and grounds us.
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R760This is a history that, quite simply, had to be written. Those who actively participated in the struggle for liberation are growing ever older; here they have related their experiences to trained historians, sociologists and political scientists, many of whom were themselves involved in the resistance movement. SADET has compiled and coordinated this remarkable book that weaves together the complex history of The Road to Democracy in South Africa.