Awakenings: the art of Lionel Davis – Book Signing
Date: 26 May 2018
Time: 14h00
Venue: Nelson Mandela Gateway, Auditorium (V&A Waterfront)
RSVP: admin@asai.co.za
Title of Book: Awakenings: the art of Lionel Davis
About Lionel Davis: Born in District Six in 1936, Davis was arrested for political activities in 1963 and spent seven years imprisoned on Robben Island, followed by five years house arrest in Manenberg. Upon his release Davis turned to art as a means of both healing and resistance. He has been closely associated with several important art centres, especially the Community Arts Project, the Fine Arts School at Rorke’s Drift in KwaZulu-Natal, the Thupelo workshop, and Greatmore Artists’ Studios, as well as with key heritage institutions such as the District Six and Robben Island Museums. Davis was recently honoured with a retrospective exhibition Gathering Strands at the Iziko South African National Gallery.
About the book: Awakenings is the first full-length study of Lionel Davis’ art. Fully illustrated, the book includes an extract from Davis’ unpublished memoirs, along with ten specially commissioned essays by scholars, curators and artists.
Editor: Mario Pissarra
Contributors: Bonita Bennett (foreword), Premesh Lalu (foreword), Nomusa Makhubu (preface), Mario Pissarra (introduction), with chapters by Ayesha Price, Barbara Voss, Bridget Thompson, Deirdre Prins-Solani, Elizabeth Rankin and Philippa Hobbs, Ernestine White, Jacqueline Nolte, Lionel Davis, Patricia de Villiers, Thembinkosi Goniwe and Tina Smith.
Publisher/s: Africa South Art Initiative (ASAI) in association with the District Six Museum and the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape.
Additional book information: Soft cover with flaps, full colour illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, 224 pp., ISBN 978-0-620-77209-9