Slade Lecture Series 2023

To speak in Parables: Dumile Feni in Hendrik Verwoerd's South Africa, 1960s

"In this lecture I examine art and politics in the 1960s South Africa, paying particular attention to Hendrik Verwoerd, the self-styled "Great Induna," and architect of Apartheid, whose assassination in 1966 slowed the triumphant march of Afrikaner racist ideology. I consider how Verwoerd's total control of the political space and violent suppression of black resistance created the environment for the emergence of Dumile Feni (1942-1991) who was called "Goya of the Townships" because of his enigmatic, and disturbing and supposedly apolitical drawings".

Lecture will take place in-person.  All welcome to attend.