WeeklySA_AdminLENS: As South Africa marks Human Rights Month and approaches the 50th anniversary of June 16 1976, the Market Photo Workshop opens a powerful archival exhibition in Johannesburg — reminding audiences that dignity and justice are lived daily, not only in moments of crisis…
By WSAM Reporter
In a year heavy with historical reflection, the Market Photo Workshop is turning its lens inward — and outward — with Lives, Voices, Struggle, a group exhibition drawn from its archives that reconsiders human rights as lived experience rather than abstract principle.
Opening on March 7 at The Photo Workshop Gallery and Gallery 1989 in Newtown, the exhibition forms part of Human Rights Month commemorations and unfolds against the backdrop of South Africa’s approaching 50-year milestone since June 16 1976.
Curated by Bandile Gumbi and Loyiso Oldjohn, the exhibition traverses land, migration, women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ struggles, disability, youth development and informal economies.
It positions human rights not as courtroom language or policy frameworks, but as daily negotiations of dignity — in homes, workplaces, communities and public spaces.
At the opening, acclaimed photographer Andrew Tshabangu will engage in conversation with Professor Thembinkosi Goniwe, setting the tone for a week-long reflection on the role of visual storytelling in shaping democratic consciousness.
Bandile Gumbi, head of the Market Photo Workshop, frames the exhibition as both affirmation and challenge.
Photography, she argues, remains a communal tool — one capable of honouring lived realities while amplifying voices often pushed to the margins.
Through personal narratives, multimedia installations and archival images, “Lives, Voices, Struggle” reveals how Africans contest, reshape and defend human rights in both ordinary and extraordinary ways.
The timing is deliberate.
As South Africa marks five decades since the Soweto Uprising, young people once again stand at the centre of uncertainty and imagination — navigating inequality, digital transformation and global instability while seeking pathways to dignity and economic participation.
The exhibition foregrounds these realities, asking whether the promise of “a better life for all” has been meaningfully realised.
Migration, too, features prominently. In a period of heightened debate around immigration, the exhibition reframes movement not as crisis, but as a defining human experience across Southern Africa — rooted in survival, aspiration and interconnected histories.
Land is explored beyond ownership and territory, presented instead as memory, livelihood, stewardship and responsibility. Environmental justice, the curators suggest, cannot be separated from human dignity.
The exhibition coincides with the 50th year of the Market Theatre, reinforcing the longstanding relationship between fearless theatrical programming and equally bold photographic curation. Greg Homann, Artistic Director of the Market Theatre Foundation, describes the moment as one demanding sober reflection — particularly in a global climate where hard-won rights appear increasingly contested.
“Lives, Voices, Struggle” runs from March 7 to 14, inviting audiences to reconsider photography not simply as documentation, but as a form of civic engagement.
In a divided world, the exhibition argues, human rights are not sustained by declarations alone. They endure through memory, community and the quiet insistence of everyday life.
