BLAC: New Beginnings
by Sean O'Toole
BLAC, a "discourse building project" aimed at black professional cultural workers founded in 1999, will close in February 2003. Over the past few years the project has been responsible for running regular discussion forums and workshops. These included a public art project on race, power and identity ('Returning the Gaze' 2000); the publication of resources, new writings, poetry and images through its website, BLACONLINE; and consultancy.
"The BLAC project developed out of the Robben Island Museum residency programme," explains BLAC co-ordinator Zayd Minty, "and more especially from a show done at the SA National Gallery called 'Isintu'". Despite being the first all black show (artists and curators), no catalogue was produced due to a lack of funding. This has given impetus to an archival project aimed at documenting BLAC's contribution to the local art scene. As Zayd Minty points out, 'Isintu' served as the genesis for Berni Searle's 'Spice Girl' series.
Look out for a future edition of ArthThrob, when we will take a critical look back at the achievements of BLAC, and assess just how successful Zayd Minty's methodology of linking the use of media to the production of art has been.
