Break the Silence

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