Collaborations and partnerships are the buzzword at the Market Theatre Foundation. A new partnership at the Market Photo Workshop will reinforce its reputation as a leader in South African photography when the Market Theatre Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Foundation sign a memorandum of understanding to place the valuable collection Between States of Emergency in the custody of the Market Photo Workshop.

The photographs in this exhibition were created in the years between 21 July 1985, when the State of Emergency was declared, until 7 June 1990 when it was lifted in 3 of the then-4 provinces of the Republic of South Africa. In the remaining province of Natal, the State of Emergency was lifted on 18 October 1990. Thus, the date on which this collection of work will be handed over also marks 27 years since this event.

The images emphasize the critical role that photography and photographers played in the fight against apartheid and its unjust systems. The images became the communicator to the rest of the world about the plight of South Africans living under the country’s oppressive laws.

The exhibition is made up of works by the following photographers: Anna Zieminski, Guy Tillim, Joe Alfers, Gille de Vlieg, Chris Ledochowski, Juda Ngwenya, Ismail Lagardien, Jenny Altschuler, Jillian Edelstein, Ellen Elmendorp, Greg English, Louise Gubb, Hetty Zantman, Zubeida Vallie, Trevor Samson, Lesley Lawson, Eric Miller, Deseni Soobben, Steve Hilton-Barber, Mike Hutchings, Jenny Gordon, Walter Dhladhla, Billy Paddock, Peter Magubane. The exhibition itself was curated by renowned photojournalist, Robin Comley.

“The Market Photo Workshop’s custodianship of this photographic exhibition will be an important supplement to our curriculum, training and reference resources. It will also add an important dynamic to our public programming activities towards curating exhibitions and public engagement sessions that integrate and engage works produced pre-freedom and post-freedom to better understand and appreciate the shifts within the photography landscape of South Africa,” said Lekgetho Makola, the Head of the Market Photo Workshop.

The MOU also marks the first collaboration between the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Market Theatre Foundation since Ismail Mahomed has taken up his tenure as CEO.

“Like the rich legacy of productions that have been presented on the stages of the Market Theatre this photographic exhibition also represents an important period of the cultural practice in South Africa. We are honored that the Nelson Mandela Foundation recognizes and trusts our efforts, our integrity and our capacity to tell South African stories through words and images,” said Ismail Mahomed, CEO of the Market Theatre Foundation.

The signing of the MOU between the Market Theatre Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Foundation will take place at the Market Photo Workshop on Wednesday 18 October.

 

 

For more information, please contact:

Mika Conradie
Manager: Public Programmes and Development
T +27 (0) 11 834 1444
E-mail: mikac@marketphotoworkshop.co.za