PICTURING CHANGE, curating visual culture at post-apartheid universities

282 pp., 4to., colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2013

Brenda Schmahmann explores the transformative ethos evident in the curation of visual culture at South African universities and examines the implications, complexities, and contradictions involved in this process.

"As they responded to the challenges of repositioning themselves after the 1994 elections, echoing the national process of institutional 'transformation', universities not only commissioned new works but also had to address what to do with the old to adapt them to redefined objectives and a more inclusive university community. This study provides a fascinating microcosm of the production of visual culture in post-apartheid South Africa, engaging with thorny issues that provide insights for the wider practice and reception of art." Elizabeth Rankin, Professor of Art History, University of Auckland

Brenda Schmahmann is Professor in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at the University of Johannesburg. She is the author of "Through the Looking Glass: representations of self by South African women artists" and "Mapula: embroidery and empowerment in the Winterveld". She also co-edited (with Marion Arnold) "Between Union and Liberation: women artists in South Africa 1910-1194".