Break the Silence

Carol Brown, former director of the Durban (South Africa) Art Gallery, and UCLA Professor Allen F. Roberts organized the Fowler Museum’s first AIDS art presentation, drawing on works previously displayed at the Durban Art Gallery’s Break the Silence exhibition. Timed to coincide with the July 2000 International AIDS Conference in Durban, the source exhibition featured colorful baskets and banners from women’s workshops in the KwaZulu-Natal Province that were created to address the crippling effects of South Africa’s AIDS crisis. The Fowler’s followup, two years later, investigated the many ways in which traditional and contemporary Zulu beadwork and weaving techniques are used to intervene in urgent social crises and concerns. Works included striking beaded dolls, beaded letters, painted panels, and telephone wire baskets (imbenge) inscribed with words and images. Examples of traditional Zulu beadwork and basketry on view demonstrated how they provided inspiration for the contemporary design motifs highlighted in the exhibition. Also featured were painted panels made by community organizations in Durban that had been part of a huge red ribbon encircling Durban’s City Hall during the July 2000 International AIDS Conference. The exhibition at the Fowler Museum was on view from February 17-April 28, 2002.