David Goldblatt: Intersections

← Previous exhibition
Next exhibition →

Infos

Opening
25.11.2005, 6 pm

Duration
26.11.2005 – 26.2.2006

Haare flechten auf der Bree Street, Johannesburg, 7. September 2002

Intro

In his work as a photographer and author, David Goldblatt (born 1930 in Randfontein, Republic of South Africa, lives in
Johannesburg) has documented and analysed the social and political structures and the social tensions of South Africa
from the beginning of Apartheid to the present. The result is an impressive photographic record of South African culture
and, at the same time, a conclusive body of works that make David Goldblatt one of the most important contemporary
documentary photographers.

David Goldblatt: Intersections” is produced in co-operation with museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf. Curated by Christoph Danelzik-Brüggemann. A catalogue is available, including texts by Michael Stevenson and Christoph Danelzik-Brüggemann, and an interview with the artist by Mark Haworth-Booth, published by Prestel, Munich-Berlin-London-New York 2005.

David Goldblatt: Intersections

In his work as a photographer and author, David Goldblatt (born 1930 in Randfontein, Republic of South Africa, lives in Johannesburg) has documented and analysed the social and political structures and the social tensions of South Africa from the beginning of Apartheid to the present. The result is an impressive photographic record of South African culture and, at the same time, a conclusive body of works that make David Goldblatt one of the most important contemporary documentary photographers.

In his book The Structure of Things Then, 1998, that looks back on fifteen years of photography work and is an expression and evidence of white, Christian nationalism and Apartheid, David Goldblatt already extensively documented societyshaping forces in South Africa. His photos of factories, housing areas, official buildings, cemeteries, churches, monuments, architectural set pieces such as lights or doors, testify to a country that was deeply influenced by Apartheid ideology right down to the most everyday things: “The smell and taste and touch, and the social weight of things here”, writes Nadine Gordimer. But numerous architectures – barracks, shops, houses, schools, mosques, churches, cemeteries, parks, monuments, signs and quite a few ruins – also testify to the fight for survival and resistance of the black population, their efforts to overcome these ideologies.

With his current group of works, “Intersections”, David Goldblatt leaves behind b/w photography while continuing his investigation of how Apartheid ideology has profoundly influenced the cities and particularly the landscape of South Africa: disused asbestos mines, the fences of the vast landed properties, the infrastructural characteristics that were the foundations of a conquest of nature and oppression of the First Nations.Today, these testimonies of white dominion, testimonies of a tragic history of interventions, are being changed, and yet still they are intimately associated with the Apartheid era: new monuments, the winning back of the cities by black low-wage service providers, the process of restitution of land and the AIDS problem are all-pervasively leaving their marks on the cities and the landscapes. The ”Intersections” in many cases provide astonishing visual evidence of social, economical and political interventions, and, combined with the vestiges of Apartheid, constitute a contradictory geology of South African life, to which David Goldblatt devotes his work.

David Goldblatt’s works were on show in recent years at the “documenta XI”, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, at the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, and at the South African National Gallery. Camera Austria has special ties with David Goldblatt: In 1994 and 1995 he published “The Structure of Things Here” and “A South African’s Archive” in our magazine, and in 1995 David Goldblatt received the “Camera Austria Award for Contemporary Photography by the City of Graz”.

Installation Views

David Goldblatt, An der Ecke von Kerk Street and Van Riebeeck Street, Steynsburg. Eastern Cape, 25. November 2004. / At the corner of Kerk and Van Riebeeck Streets, Steynsburg. Eastern Cape, 25 November 2004.
David Goldblatt, Das Tor zum Farmhaus von Gerda und Christoph van Wyk, T’oubeep, Bushmanland, Northern Cape. 24. Juni 2004 / The gate to the farmerhouse of Gerda and Christoph van Wyk, T’oubeep, Bushmanland, Northern Cape. 24 June 2004
David Goldblatt, Schakal am Zaun eines Farmers, Kraairivier, zwischen Laingsburg und Sutherland, Northern Cape. 16. August 2003 / Jakal on a farm fence, Kraairivier, between Laingsburg und Sutherland, Northern Cape.16 August 2003
David Goldblatt, Anna Boois mit ihrem Geburtstagskuchen und Gemüsegarten auf ihrer Farm Klein Karoo in den Kamiesbergen, Namaqualand. 20. September 2003 / Anna Boois with her birthday cake and vegetable garden on her farm Klein Karoo in the Kamiesbergen, Namaqualand. 20 September 2003.
David Goldblatt, Fahrende Farmarbeiter im Treck, Vordermann des ersten Karren, Piet Ludick, mit Fahrrad Jan de Beer, dann von links nach rechts: Piet Ludick, Petros Ludick, Sarah de Weer, Spaas Ludick; zweiter Karren: Vordermann Martiens Ludick, Martiens Ludick, Liza de Weer. New Rooiberg, Nuweveld, Karoo. 18. September 2002 / Swerwers on trek. Voorloper on the first karretjie, Piet Ludick, with bike Jan de Beer, then left to right: Piet Ludick, Petros Ludick, Sarah de Weer, Spaas Ludick; second karretjie: Voorloper Martiens Ludick, Martiens Ludick, Liza de Weer. New Rooiberg, Nuweveld, Karoo. 18. September 2002
David Goldblatt, Quaggamaag, Bushmanland, Nordkap. 24. Juni 2004 /
Quaggamaag, Bushmanland, Northern Cape. 24. June 2004
David Goldblatt, Während Fernando Augusto Luta seine Kleidung wäscht, posieren Augusto Mokinda (13), Ze Jano (12) und Ze Ndala (10) für einen Fotografen im mit Wasser vollgelaufenen, verlassenen Minenschacht, in dem sie und andere Kinder des Dorfes schwimmen gehen. Das Wasser ist zweifellos mit Blauasbestfasern verseucht. Pomfret Asbestos Mine, Pomfret. North-West Province, 25. Dezember 2002. / While Fernando Augusto Luta washes his clothes, Augusto Mokinda (13), Ze Jano (12) and Ze Ndala (10), pose for a photograph in the underground water in an abandoned mineshaft in which they and other children of the village swim. The water is almost certainly contaminated with blue asbestos fibres. Pomfret Asbestos Mine, Pomfret. North-West Province, 25 December 2002.
David Goldblatt, Haare flechten auf der Bree Street, Johannesburg, 7. September 2002 / Braiding hair on Bree Street, Johannesburg, 7 September 2002

Opening

Eröffnung / Opening, 25. 11. 2005
David Goldblatt, Intersections
Camera Austria 2005
Photo: Seiichi Furuya
Eröffnung / Opening, 25. 11. 2005
David Goldblatt, Intersections
Camera Austria 2005
Photo: Seiichi Furuya
Eröffnung / Opening, 25. 11. 2005
David Goldblatt, Intersections
Camera Austria 2005
Photo: Seiichi Furuya
Eröffnung / Opening, 25. 11. 2005
David Goldblatt, Intersections
Camera Austria 2005
Photo: Seiichi Furuya
Eröffnung / Opening, 25. 11. 2005
David Goldblatt, Intersections
Camera Austria 2005
Photo: Seiichi Furuya
Eröffnung / Opening, 25. 11. 2005
David Goldblatt, Intersections
Camera Austria 2005
Photo: Seiichi Furuya
Eröffnung / Opening, 25. 11. 2005
David Goldblatt, Intersections
Camera Austria 2005
Photo: Seiichi Furuya