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Mosaic of
destuction
(detail), Lambda edition of 5, 49 x 150cm
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PRESS
RELEASE
PROMISED LAND
An exhibition of photographs by ANDREW McILLERON
Upstairs at 34 Long Fine Art 12 February till 15 March
Shack fires are a direct result of the migration of rural people to the cities, usually in search of a better life for their families. Migrants often have little option but to live in high-density shanty towns with minimal or no public services – fertile ground for accidents.
This body of photographic work centres around a blaze which took place in
Jo Slovo shanty town in May 2006. Jo Slovo is approximately 8 km from central Cape Town and is home to some of South Africa’s poorest people. There had been a fire on the adjacent piece of land the previous year. Fire victims were moved to a temporary housing project in Delft while new houses were constructed on the site where the shacks had been razed by flames. This is the new N2 Gateway Development. The new flats are occupied, however, not by the victims of the fire as promised by the authorities.
A similar story seems to be unfolding around the 2006 fire victims who were also moved to Delft some 20km away, to temporary houses constructed of Nu-Tech, which looks exactly like asbestos. They are supplied with a central water supply and communal toilet facilities. There is no official electricity supply. Residents desperate for electricity connect to the power grid via a complex network of illegal overhead wires.
Meanwhile council has sold the land in Jo Slovo to First National Bank who is building apartments to be sold at R200 000 to R250 000 each.
This exhibition does not attempt to deal with political arguments around government’s responsibilities to its poorest citizens. Rather, it is a visual poem about lives caught up in promises made and not kept.
In the main gallery downstairs, there will be a exhibition of work by various contemporary artists, local and international.
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All images ©
ANDREW McILLERON, 2008
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34 Long Street Cape Town South Africa
For more information contact Andries Loots: tel. +27 82 354
1500 fineart@34long.com
Gallery
hours Tuesday - Friday 9h00-17h00 Saturday 10h-14h00
or by appointment tel. +27 21 426 4594
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