’30 Years the Occupants’ at HUB Gallery: A Journey Through South Africa Since 1994

HUB Gallery shines a spotlight on the trauma, resilience, and triumphs of South Africa since 1994 with its new art exhibition, 30 Years the Occupants. The exhibition includes a collection of photo essays from Matthew Willman’s ‘Mandela Heritage Collection’ together with a selection of works from the Spier Collection, a contemporary Southern African collection encapsulating three decades of democracy that represent a multiplicity of post-apartheid narratives.

A rare and intimate photo essay of Nelson Mandela’s legacy

Central to 30 Years the Occupants is ‘The ‘Mandela Heritage Collection’, a series of photographs taken over a number of years that capture Mandela, his journey, and key elements of the struggle. There are images of ZK Matthews’s handwritten Freedom Charter and a shot of the ‘Rivonia Trial Notes’ historic documents that are unavailable to the public. The infamous Rivonia Trial saw Mandela and eight others sentenced to life in prison. The photographic essay also features portraits of Mandela taken by Willman during his time with the legendary figure.

Willman’s stark and thought-provoking works bring us back to the beginnings of our democracy. If the land is an archive and holds memories, visiting Robben Island now, for example, is a stark reminder of the struggle as well as the triumph, and Mandela is a symbol of hope and rejuvenation.

The conceptual art and sculptures in 30 Years the Occupants

Matthew Willman’s photographic essay is carefully merged with a curated collection of around 20 photographs, paintings, mixed-media artworks and textile pieces from the Spier Collection that narrate an interconnected story of national memory and experience. Featured artworks are from renowned artists like John Murray, Billie Zangewa, Thandiwe Msebenzi, Sue Williamson, Ayana V Jackson and Cinga Samson to expand upon apartheid and post-apartheid narratives of women, religion, cultural traditions and physical space.

Together, these works, as well as their appreciation, use the power of storytelling as a tool to recognise experience, representing both voices and silences. ’30 Years the Occupants’ considers the stories of our past, those of our present and the possibilities imagined for our future while inviting audiences to think carefully about their own internalisation of post-apartheid narratives.

More about Matthew Willman

Matthew Willman is a renowned documentary and fine art photographer born in Durban, South Africa, in 1979. His creativity was heavily shaped by his childhood during the latter years of apartheid and Nelson Mandela’s ‘walk to freedom’.

As a commissioned photographer for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Matthew went on to capture South Africa’s democratic shift. This offered him many intimate and rare experiences with the man who, for Matthew, ‘embodied the very spirit and conviction we all possess as Africans in the world today.’