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'The violence of racist tyranny': African Guernica goes on display alongside Picasso masterpiece
Piece by late South African artist Dumile Feni is part of new series History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, But It Does Rhyme
TL;DR
- Dumile Feni's 'African Guernica,' created in 1967, is displayed at the Reina Sofía museum alongside Picasso's 'Guernica.'
- Feni's work is a response to the violence and dehumanization of apartheid in South Africa, while Picasso's is a reaction to the Nazi bombing of a Basque town.
- The exhibition 'History Doesn't Repeat Itself, But It Does Rhyme' aims to place works from different cultural and geographical frameworks alongside 'Guernica' to encourage re-readings and correct old biases in art history.
- The curator notes that Picasso's 'Guernica' itself was influenced by African sculpture, challenging the historical marginalization of African art.
- While both works are powerful depictions of violence, Feni's focuses on the 'slow violence' and 'actual violence of racist tyranny,' differentiating it from an anti-war statement.
- Other works by Feni, including 'You Wouldn't Know God if He Spat in Your Eye' and 'Hector Pieterson,' are also exhibited.