WeeklySA_AdminHISTRIOGRAPHY:Mawela hopes to contribute to social cohesion
By Victor Mecoamere
PHOTOJOURNALIST Jacob Mawela hopes his photographic exhibition titled Names in Uphill Letters which will be staged in Benoni, Johannesburg and Pretoria will make a name for him, the same as 30 of the numerous personalities he had photographed over the years had done for themselves in several different spheres of life.
Mawela’s showcase will be mounted for three months at the Benoni Museum in Benoni from Heritage Day, starting on Heritage Day, September 24, this year. His next two shows will run for a month each at the Workers’ Museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, from March 27, 2022; and at the Pretoria Art Museum in Pretoria, from May 7, 2022. Mawela is touting the show as being about the newsmakers who had influenced the sciences, academia, sports, economics, literature, law, humanities, as well as the social, political or cultural landscape and history of South Africa in various ways over the years.
But Mawela says the show is not necessarily glorifying any of the personalities, who number 108 in total, although financial and space constraints are limiting the tally on view to only 30. “For me, this is merely a historical glance at the many, different people who had influenced political, cultural and cultural lives in South Africa over the years; and, as a way of contributing towards social cohesion, while also attempting to reach the young generation, commonly known as the millennials, with an enlightening message about their own country’s past,” Mawela said. Mawela said, seeing that the country had become polarised over the centuries, he is hoping that the guests at the galleries will be inspired to regard the past, present and future differently.
He is also looking forward to holding workshops for young photography students. “We need to show the young ones the importance of each, and all of us, playing a meaningful roles in contributing to social cohesion. But, I am also hoping that the more mature patrons will also derive value from the shows,” Mawela said.
Some of the photos in Mawela’s collection feature apartheid era president FW de Klerk, who helped to usher in a new, democratic era by unbanning political leaders and organisations and releasing political prisoners including Nelson Mandela in 1990. The others are civil rights lawyer George Bizos, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, local F1 Racing Champion Jody Schechter, opera diva Mimi Coertse and artist William Kentridge.
While it is somewhat modest for Mawela to be hoping that the travelling historiography might make him as well-known as his many exhibition subjects, his profile is nothing to sneeze at. Because, in more than two decades, Mawela has worked at Drum magazine for six years, and has also worked with the legendary Ken Oosterbroek at The Star newspaper. Mawela has also been featured in A Bigger Picture: A Manual of Photo-journalism in Southern Africa, a book by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology graduate, Margaret Waller. In the book, Mawela shares equal mention with the likes of top documentary lensmen like TJ Lemon, Santu Mofokeng, Cedric Nunn, Jürgen Schadeberg, Alf Kumalo, Victor Matom, Steve Hilton-Barber and Benny Gool.
