An exhibition honouring South African graphic artist and political activist, Thami Mnyele, who was shot dead by South African Defence Force soldiers in 1985 is on at the Johannesburg Art Gallery until the 30th of March. Mnyele was a talented artist who was committed to bringing about social change in South Africa through the medium of art.
His active participation in the struggle meant he was viewed as a threat by the apartheid government. He was forced to flee the country and moved to Botswana in 1979. While in Botswana he became a cultural worker at the Medu Art Ensemble which was dedicated to using music, theatre, visual art, graphics and film to fight social change.
In Botswana he continued to create and exhibit anti-apartheid themed graphics and drawings. Mnyele also participated fully in the ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe operation, he trained in the MK camps in Angola in the early 80s and later in Lusaka. He designed posters, mastheads and stickers for the ANC, and he even designed the first draft of the current ANC logo. In 1982 he chaired the Gaborone Culture and Resistance Festival.
For more information about the exhibition, contact the Johannesburg Art Gallery on 0117253130.
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