insideKENT Magazine Issue 93 - December 2019 | Page 30

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
STEVE BLOOM
BENEATH THE SURFACE –
SOUTH AFRICA IN THE SEVENTIES
Sat 19 October 2019 to Sun 19 January 2020 (Closed Mondays)
Free admission (donations encouraged)
The Beaney, 18 High Street, Canterbury, CT1 2RA
ON THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF APARTHEID, THIS EXHIBITION OF
STEVE BLOOM’S PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE MID 1970S, CAPTURES A CRITICAL
MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF APARTHEID-ERA SOUTH AFRICA.
L: WOMAN WITH HER HUSBAND, A STROKE PATIENT. MANENBERG 1976; R: GREEN POINT, CAPE TOWN, 1977 © Steve Bloom
1976 was a pivotal year in South African history.
The first real cracks in the apartheid system of racial
segregation appeared when black school children
took to the streets to protest against new laws, which
had been introduced to reinforce an inferior
education system. The authorities struck back
ruthlessly, killing and wounding many defenceless
children. It was a time of realisation: the beginning
of the end of white complacency and black defeatism.
Bloom’s work in apartheid South Africa, poignant
and moving, reveals the alienation of a country on
the cusp of change; placing Bloom among the select
few photographers who caught the mood of the time.
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Bloom took to the streets and the townships,
photographing people in this pivotal historical
moment. In his images, he manages to capture the
complex emotional essence of the moment South
Africa began to experience unstoppable, real dissent.
Chairman of the council’s Community Committee,
Cllr Neil Baker, said: “On the 25th anniversary of
the end of apartheid, when all South Africans were
allowed to vote for the first time, leading to Nelson
Mandela being elected as President, we are pleased
to be hosting this collection of moving images
from such a significant time in world history.
It is a thought-provoking exhibition by one of South
Africa’s leading photographers and viewing is highly
recommended.”
The exhibition will run from Saturday 19 October
to Sunday 19 January 2020 (closed Mondays).
www.canterburymuseums.co.uk/beaney