Identity area
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Title
Date(s)
- 1982 (Accumulation)
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Extent and medium
54 pages
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Administrative history
The Medu Art Ensemble was formed by South Africa exiles in Gaborone, Botswana, in 1978. The organisation produced a wealth of creative work across all major art-forms; the roup further played a key role in shaping aesthetic and cultural theory and praxis within Africanist and liberation struggles. On June 14 1985, the South African Defence Force attacked the homes of Medu members and other activists in Gaborone, killing 12 people; Medu as an organisation ceased to exist.
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This edition of the Medu Art Ensemble newsletter contains poetry, articles, book reviews, play reviews and letters. It contains several articles, critical essays and play reviews and seeks to engage in some "hard talking about the position of culture in our society at this time". This "hard talking" is present in a number of critical articles, notably by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o and Judy Seidman. Albie Sachs writes a fascinating letter to Medu which reflects on how much of the literary and artistic work is "agonized". His experience of being in exile in Mozambique has led him to believe that artists are trying to "outshout" the oppressor. He sees value for artists in "building up liberated zones" inside themselves and creating images outside of the context of the oppressor. Front page graphic by Thami Mnyele on silkscreen.
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Permission to publish must be obtained from the Medu Art Ensemble Project.
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Publication note
Newsletter has a cover page, unnumbered table of content, one unnumbered illustration page and one unnumbered page between page 7 and eight written "Poems From Vietnam"