Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
How does post-apartheid South Africa deal with public art from its years of racism, oppression, and colonialism? How do new monuments address fraught histories and redefine heroes of the struggle? Across South Africa, statues commemorating figures and events such as Cecil Rhodes and the South African War have been defaced, vandalized, and provoked heated protests, while new statues dedicated to the liberation movement have been called exploitative or irreverent. Kim Miller and Brenda Schmahmann, along with and an international group of contributors, take on debates and concerns that surround art associated with unpopular politics and art that addresses South Africa s struggle to become a new, multiracial nation. These essays confront questions about identity, nationhood politics, and the place of art in civic culture. They reveal that architecture, art, and artists have never been so consciously on display as when they give visual expression of the sensitive history, knowledge, and memory of a nation in transformation.
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