Arts & Music Revolutionary images with bold slogans were one tool this art collective used to advocate for social justice and pan-African solidarity. A Women’s Place Is In the Struggle According to the Art Institute of Chicago, “Though relatively few black women were active within Medu, the collective made a point of featuring them prominently in posters, theater and poetry. The members felt that oppressed groups needed to see themselves in images for such visuals to communicate effectively. Drawing subject matter from photographs, daily life, and important events in the struggle against apartheid – and aligning with socialist iconography proud working The Medu Art Ensemble formed in the late 1970s in opposition to South Africa’s apartheid policy of racial segregation and violent injustice. Through graphic design and poster production, members forcefully articulated a call for radical change, advocating for decolonization or majority (nonwhite) rule in South Africa and in the neighboring countries of Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. THE PEOPLE SHALL GOVERN! Is the first-ever exhibition on Medu in North America. Featured among its 130 objects are more than 60 posters by members of the ensemble and related makers, all recently acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago. Collaboratively executed and often printed in the hundreds, Medu’s offset lithograph and screen-printed posters combine sobering and revolutionary imagery with bold slogans that, in word and image, mobilized citizens to support causes in social and economic justice and encouraged panAfrican solidarity. Medu posters that were smuggled into South Africa and mounted in public spaces are exceedingly rare. The Art Institute is home to the most comprehensive holding of these vibrant works outside South Africa. The Medu spirit of oppositional creativity transformed the culture of resistance in southern Africa during the late 20th century. women – many Medu render women as sturdy and posters black strong, emphasizing their integral role in struggles for equity”. “In South Africa separate and unequal access to education, health, and economic opportunity long predated apartheid law – as did female resistance to such conditions. Starting in the early 20th century, women rallied through self-organized committees as well as membership in trade unions and political parties. The posters on view attest to the tradition of women’s activism, which lives on today through women’s leadership of #feesMustFall movement, which calls for free and decolonized education.” The Art Institute of Chicago shared more details, “Now You Have Touched the Women” (1981). These are, “lyrics from a South African protest song from the 1956 Anti-Pass Campaign. Pass laws severely restricted movement within the country for black, July 2019 The URBAN EXPERIENCE 11 of . . . the South African
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