Separate But Equal: Apartheid

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A mixed media artwork referencing apartheid in South Africa. The work features a black and white canvas studded with rhinestones; a white strip forms a horizontal plane atop a black field. The canvas has been ripped and then sewn together, leaving a diagonal gash along the right side of the work. Words have been superimposed on the black field using black vinyl tape: Apartheid, Camps, The Mines, Disappearances, Pass Book, Endless Labor, 0 Votes, Detention, Interrogation, SOWETO. Words have been added to the white part of the canvas using white vinyl tape: Indifference, Separate State, Cruel, Profit, The Bomb, Barbaric, Killers, Comfort, Parasitic, Apartheid. There is a wooden frame around the plaster with nails protruding out from it.

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