30 years on

After my morning at Fareshare I went to the Wesley chapel to see an exhibition marking 30 years of South Africa’s liberation from apartheid. It shows linocuts by Norman Kaplan - a white Jewish South African artist and socialist. Unfortunately they are dark, it was dark in the chapel, so my blips are not brilliant. 
The main one is called The Compound Gate.(1975) The compound was a single men’s hostel for migrant workers who came from rural areas to work in towns and cities. It was heavily guarded, and the men needed permission to leave. Here two men are dressed up for going out on a Saturday night- the guard is letting them out. The man on the left has his ‘dom book’ in his shirt pocket. Failure to produce this identity document would automatically land you in jail, with the likelihood of being sent away as slave labour for a  white farmer. I like the expressions on their faces, they look exhausted and downtrodden, at the same time, a feeling of anticipation of some fun to be had on their night out. 
The extra is unmistakable  (created 1986) - he was let out of prison after 27 years, in 1990. And he became the first democratically elected president in 1994. 
I was so pleased I’d been to see the exhibition, an important anniversary to be commemorated. And so many memories for me of anti- apartheid campaigning in my early years in London, and seeing wonderful plays (like Sizwe Bansi is Dead) ,  and musicians from South Africa.