From 13 April – 31 May 2018, the University of Johannesburg’s VIAD Research Centre in partnership with renowned London-based photographic arts agency Autograph ABP will present Black Chronicles IV, an Autograph ABP touring exhibition and audio-visual installation that explores black experiences and presences in 19th-century Britain and the United States, through the prism of studio portraiture.
Many of the images will be shown for the first time in South Africa, including a selection of 200 images reproduced from African American intellectual and civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois’ iconic “American Negro” exhibit at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Another highlight of the exhibition is a dedicated display of large-scale portraits of The African Choir, who toured Britain between 1891-93, and whose members included early black South African activists Charlotte Maxeke, Katie Makanya, and Paul Xiniwe. Accompanying these extraordinary images is an immersive 5-channel soundscape created by South African composers Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi, entitled The African Choir 1891 Re-Imagined.
The exhibition offers a rare opportunity for audiences in Johannesburg to engage with a unique exhibition of images and sound, and to acknowledge the human agency of historically marginalised black subjectivities.
Curated by Renée Mussai of Autograph ABP, Black Chronicles IV runs from the 13 April – 4 May 2018 at the FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg, Bunting Road campus.
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