Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life

Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life is a photographic exhibition examining the legacy of the apartheid system and how it penetrated even the most mundane aspects of social existence in South Africa, from housing, public amenities, transportation, to education, tourism, religion, and businesses. Complex, vivid, evocative, and dramatic, it includes nearly 500 photographs, films, books, magazines, newspapers, and assorted archival documents and covers more than 60 years of powerful photographic and visual production that form part of the historical record of South Africa. Several photographic strategies, from documentary to reportage, social documentary to the photo essay, were each adopted to examine the effects and after-effects of apartheid's political, social, economic, and cultural legacy. Curated by Okwui Enwezor with Rory Bester, the exhibition proposes a complex understanding of photography and the aesthetic power of the documentary form and honors the exceptional achievement of South African photographers.

Past Tour Venues

Haus der Kunst | Munich, Germany
February 15–May 26, 2013

Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea Milano | Milan, Italy
July 8–September 15, 2013

Museum Africa | Johannesburg, South Africa
February 13, 2014–April 30, 2015

Eli Weinberg, Crowd near the Drill Hall on the opening day of the Treason Trial, December 19, 1956. Times Media Collection, Museum Africa, Johannesburg.

A picture of people protesting and yelling.

Jodi Bieber, Protest against Chris Hanis assassination, 1993. © Goodman Gallery Johannesburg.

Graeme Williams, Portrait of Nelson Mandela painted on the grass of Soweto's largest football stadium during an election rally, 1994. Courtesy the artist. © Graeme Williams.

Graeme Williams, Right-wing groups gather in Pretoria's Church Square to voice their anger at the F. W. de Klerk government's attempts to transform the country, 1990. Courtesy the artist. © Graeme Williams.

Eli Weinberg, <em>Nelson Mandela portrait wearing traditional beads and a bed spread. Hiding out from the police during his period as the black pimpernel</em>,<em></em> 1961. Courtesy of IDAFSA.

A group of people talking to the police.

Jurgen Schadeberg, The 29 ANC Womens League women are being arrested by the police for demonstrating against the permit laws, which prohibited them from entering townships without a permit, 26th August 1952. Courtesy the artist.

An exhibition featuring two perfect rows of black and white photographs.

Museum

1133 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY

Sep 14, 2012 - Jan 06, 2013

Press Release

Review: The New York Times

Special Thanks

This exhibition is made possible with support from Mark McCain and Caro Macdonald/Eye and I, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowments for the Arts, Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Deborah Jerome and Peter Guggenheimer, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council.