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.’
Date: 1 February 2023, 17:00 (Wednesday, 3rd week, Hilary 2023)
Venue: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street OX1 4BG
Speaker: Chika Okeke-Agulu
Organising department: Department of History of Art
Organiser: Alexander Stavrou (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: vrc@hoa.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Slade Lectures 2023: African Artists in the Age of the Big Man
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: AB Siegenthaler