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Medu Art Ensemble was a collective of cultural activists based in Gaborone, Botswana during the height of the anti-apartheid resistance movement during the late twentieth century. The collective formed originally in 1977[when?] as a group of black South African artists mutually invested in regional liberation struggles and resistance to South Africa’s apartheid policy of racial segregation (1948-1994).[1] Medu’s members, or “cultural workers” as they preferred to be called, eventually organized and relocated to Gaborone, Botswana in 1978.[2] They felt that the term "cultural workers" was far more fitting to their mission rather than referring to themselves as artists because the such a pursuit was regarded as something trivial and therefore inherently elitist and white.[3] With the support of the African National Congress (ANC), in Gaborone Medu officially registered as a cultural organization with the Botswanan government. Medu means “roots” in the Northern Sotho language, and so describes the collective's underground operations (in defiance of the apartheid government's ban on oppositional political parties and organizations). The collective’s cultural work was rhizomatic in nature, stretching across seven semi-autonomous units: Film, Graphics, Music, Photography, Poetry, Publishing and Research, and Theatre.
In Gaborone, Medu organized concerts, conducted art and creative writing workshops, produced films, organized public health campaigns, and mounted exhibitions among other activities. The collective also produced agitational newsletters and political posters, both of which sought to simultaneously bolster regional solidarity, critique the injustices of the apartheid state, and promote black consciousness. The Collective consisted of several units - music, theatre, photography, graphic and visual arts and research and production (which was writing) but they were not strictly separated units.[4] One of Medu's flagship events was the 1982 Culture and Resistance Festival and Symposium, which brought thousands of activists, cultural workers, and ordinary people together (from across Africa, the Americas, and Europe) for a week of concerts, exhibitions, talks, workshops and other forms of radical cultural programing. This massive undertaking brought greater attention to Medu's activism, heightening in particular the apartheid government's scrutiny of collective's work. Medu disbanded in 1985, following the South African Defence Force's murderous Raid on Gaborone, which resulted in the death of twelve people, including Medu members Mike Hamlyn, Thamsanga Mnyele, George Phahle, and Lindi Phahle.
- ^ Kellner, Clive and González, Sergio-Albio (2009). Thami Mnyele + Medu Art Ensemble retrospective : Johannesburg Art Gallery. Johannesburg Art Gallery. Sunnyside, South Africa: Jacana. ISBN 978-1-77009-688-2. OCLC 501159351.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Medu Art Ensemble | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
- ^ Wingfield, Chris; Giblin, John; King, Rachel (2020). The pasts and presence of art in South Africa: Technologies, ontologies and agents. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. p. 204. doi:10.17863/CAM.59948. ISBN 9781913344016. S2CID 238130276.
- ^ Seidman, Judy (Spring 2008). ""Reflections upon Posters in South Africa, and the Medu Art Ensemble". Critical Interventions. 2 (1–2): 161. doi:10.1080/19301944.2008.10781336. S2CID 140560513.