Printmaking, with its flexible formats, portability, relative affordability, and collaborative environment, was a catalyst in the exchange of ideas and the articulation of political resistance during the oppressive years of apartheid rule in South Africa. This volume presents prints by twenty-nine artists and organizations from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art that demonstrate the unusual reach, range, and impact of printmaking in a country during and after a period of political upheaval. From the earliest print, a 1965 linoleum cut by Azaria Mbatha, to recent works that investigate a multiplicity of themes in the wake of apartheid, these works are striking examples of prints as tools for social and political expression.
Featuring an introduction by Judith B. Hecker, this volume includes a chronology of relevant political and cultural events in South Africa, as well as short biographies of the artists, publishers, and printers whose work reflected the country's movement toward democracy and the changing society that has followed its attainment.
